Welcome to Amestris, Agents
by TheFullmetalBitch
Summary: This is the next story in my 'Agents, meet Alchemists' series. I would recommend reading the first two before you read this one and my Voltron/FMA fic first, if you don't want spoilers. This story is beta'd by PhoenixQueen and we would love to hear what you have to say about it!
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to Amestris, Agents**

**Chapter One:**

_One month after New York…_

Brigadier General Roy Mustang groaned as he read through the report that one of the corporals assigned to "assist" Fullmetal during his most recent mission had written and sent on to him with the daily dispatches. The report was somewhat short, but it was straight-forward and concise. Mustang appreciated that fact, considering all the paperwork he reviewed on a daily basis. He had learned early on in Edward's rather destructive military career to issue standing orders to all bases and MP outposts in Amestris that at least one other soldier or MP was to submit a report to him so that he would have an idea of what damages he would need to report to the Führer, as the financial disbursements would need to be authorized before Mustang could submit the forms to the treasury department. He had realised that sometimes Edward forgot to include the damages in his reports – which given how much property damage he sometimes caused, was entirely possible – or he simply neglected to put it on the report because he didn't think it mattered that the building was (in Edward's own words) "one slight breeze away from falling over" when he used the destruction to apprehend his target.

Mustang had tried _very_ hard not to bang his head on his desk (or use his ignition gloves to set Edward's prized red coat on fire) when Edward had told him _that_ after the first mission where he hadn't been able to use alchemy to repair all the damage caused in his attempts to apprehend the criminal he'd been sent after. The very next day he'd issued the standing order to every military command or outpost before Edward had been sent on his next mission.

Mustang had hoped – perhaps foolishly, it seemed – that after their rather unexpected adventure to America to assist the BAU agents with the capture of Thomas Harding that Edward would've learned to be a little more aware of his surroundings and would stop using other people's cars as shields and weapons against the criminal he happened to be fighting. Of course, it didn't help matters that Alphonse had finally been released from the hospital, even if he hadn't been cleared to travel or assist his brother with his missions. That fact made Edward even more anxious to finish his missions quickly so he could return to Central, which had led more than once to Edward taking an expedient route to finish the mission instead of the most tactically wise approach.

In this case, the "expedient route" apparently had involved using an alchemically created stone pillar to launch a parked car at the rogue earth alchemist. The rogue had successfully dodged the car, causing it to hit the shop behind him, only to step right into Edward's automail fist. The irate blond had promptly arrested the rogue, amid many complaints about how he "could have just saved everyone a lot of time and energy if he'd just surrendered, but no, he had to be a dick and put up a fight despite the fact he had to have known that he wouldn't have won a fight against the Fullmetal Alchemist".

Mustang groaned once more after reading that part of the report. Edward wasn't wrong, but there was no reason the car and shop had to be damaged for him to win that fight. The phone on his desk rang and he picked up the receiver without opening his eyes. It was his first full day in his new office and rank since his promotion to brigadier general at a special ceremony the previous Friday. The weekend had been spent moving his team into his new, larger office and arranging things according to their established manner, and then the previous night had been spent at a celebratory feast thrown by Gracia Hughes at her apartment. Today his new responsibilities as coordinating commander for the State Alchemist program had begun and the phone rarely went fifteen minutes without ringing.

"Mustang," he answered and was both relieved and scared to hear his captain's voice on the other end of the line. Along with his promotion, the rest of his team had also been given a rise in the ranks, with the exception of Second Lieutenant Falman, who had already recently been promoted during the months when he was posted to the North. Edward had been the only one to refuse his promotion, telling Mustang to fuck off when he'd heard that he was eligible to become a lieutenant colonel. Even the promise of higher pay and the right to begin assembling a team of his own hadn't been enough to sway the younger alchemist.

"_The Elric brothers are here to see you, sir,"_ Hawkeye said calmly.

Mustang almost sighed. It wasn't a call to inform him that there was more paperwork – something that already seemed to have tripled thanks to his promotion (and it was only the first day!) – but at the same time, he didn't want to deal with Edward's attitude at the moment.

"Send them in," was all he said as he hung up the phone and glared at the report in front of him. He didn't even have time to gather his strength to try not to respond to Edward as he normally did, something he was getting better at these days, considering the teenager was much less likely to fly into a rage than he had been before the Promised Day. Of course, that didn't mean that the blond alchemist took being told that his methods were too destructive for the military's liking calmly.

At that moment, the door to the outer office opened and the teen strode in as if he owned the office. "What's up, Colonel Bastard?" Edward said as made a beeline for one of the couches, ignoring proper military protocol as always. _At least he didn't kick his way in_, Mustang thought with relief, grateful that Edward had acquired at least _that_ much restraint and respect since the Promised Day.

"Brigadier General, Brother," Al reminded him as he closed the door behind them.

Edward made a face of dislike. "It doesn't really roll off the tongue the same way. 'Brigadier General Bastard'. See? It doesn't sound right," he complained as he flopped down onto the couch, hiding all but the briefest of winces as his ribs and other minor injuries were jostled.

"You could try being nice or referring to him by his name, you know," Al scolded gently as he knocked Ed's feet off of the couch cushions so he could sit down next to Edward. Edward just picked his feet back up and put them in his brother's lap. Al sighed, but didn't argue or remove them a second time. Mustang gathered up the report that Corporal Jackson had sent him and went to sit on the second couch, facing the brothers.

"Being nice takes so much effort, Al, and I already have to put a lot of energy into not swearing around Elysia," Ed whined.

Al chuckled and patted Ed's flesh knee comfortingly. Mustang felt himself relaxing slightly. If Ed was this casual and relaxed that he would joke with Al like that in front of him, maybe this wouldn't go as badly as Mustang had thought it might since Edward could be unpredictable when it came to mission briefings and debriefings.

Thanks to their trip to America and their time spent with the BAU where – at the start anyway – the only person each of them could fully trust was the other one, their friendship and their working relationship had grown stronger and more genuine, if only a little. Then there had been the fallout that Mustang had anticipated from their actions against Thomas Harding that had resulted in the rogue alchemist's death. Edward, of course, had handled it in his usual fashion; he had refused to acknowledge that it was a problem and had become increasingly reckless on his missions until the day he'd pulled a stunt so dangerous and potentially lethal that Mustang had known he'd have to intervene.

He'd somehow convinced Hawkeye to not only cancel all of the meetings he'd scheduled for the day Edward was due to report in, but he'd also been able to get her to agree to ignore any paperwork that he needed to have done from the time Edward was supposed to arrive until after he had left, or the next day, depending on how quickly the issue was resolved. Mustang suspected Hawkeye liked Ed more than she liked him and that that was the only reason she'd agreed but he valued his life enough to not say that comment out loud and merely thanked her. Once Ed had arrived, Mustang had locked the door and then sealed it shut with alchemy, determined to keep the teen there until he gave in and talked about how he was feeling about Harding's death.

Edward had not taken the treatment lightly once he'd realised what was happening, and Mustang had simply been glad that his inner office was soundproof, due to the need for confidential, high-level meetings that he sometimes held inside it. Once Edward had realised that yelling at Mustang wasn't going to get him to open the door, he'd threatened to simply alchemise a new door in the building. Mustang had quietly stated that he could, but it would only prolong the issue and cause Al even more stress during the final stages of his recovery. It was a very low blow, but Mustang hadn't regretted it, since it _did_ get Edward to calm down and sit down. Then nearly an hour had passed where neither of them had said anything. _Finally_, even Edward's legendary stubbornness had broken down and the teen had confided in Mustang. There had been tears, apologies, and advice given before they were finished and Mustang had allowed Ed to stay in his office for a little while longer so that the teen could compose himself.

They had walked out of the office together to find Hawkeye was the only one left in the outer office and both had simultaneously looked at the clock before realising just how long they'd been locked in the office. Hawkeye had simply looked at them, commented on how she hoped that she wouldn't be filling out requisition forms for property damage in the morning, and that she hoped they'd resolved their differences before reminding Mustang that he had paperwork to finish tomorrow so he had better be on time to work.

Mustang liked to think that his working relationship with Edward had only gotten stronger since then, but he also knew how volatile and unpredictable the blond alchemist could still be. Their relationship _was_ better and he trusted that Ed was more likely to come to him with a problem – whether personal or professional – than he had been before the Promised Day, but he also knew that there was a part of the teen that still believed that Mustang would abandon him or betray him in some way. It didn't help that, in public, Mustang was still forced to treat Edward much the same way as he had before the Promised Day, mostly for the teen's protection, since he had no doubt that there were still those in the military who had been secret supporters of Father and Bradley and who would take advantage of any perceived weakness or affection between the Flame and Fullmetal Alchemists.

"So what's the issue today, Mustang?"

Ed's demand broke Mustang out of his thoughts and brought him back to the present. He shook his head slightly at his woolgathering and gestured to the report he'd placed on the coffee table. Edward glanced at it before raising a brow in question.

"I need your report, Fullmetal."

Ed groaned as he pushed himself upright, swinging his feet out of Al's lap before reaching into the pocket of his red coat and producing some folded and slightly crumpled papers, which he handed over. Mustang accepted them with an annoyed scowl at their condition before reading them quickly.

"At least your report matches Corporal Jackson's," Mustang sighed as he put the papers down. He didn't miss Edward's scowl or the casual way that Al gripped his brother's arm to prevent him from yelling right away. Mustang was grateful for the younger teen's intervention. "Can you tell me _why_ you decided it was necessary to throw a car into a shop? I certainly didn't read anything in either your or Jackson's reports that told me there was no way to apprehend him other than catapulting a civilian car to stop him." It was purely habit – or so he told himself – that caused the slightest hint of a snarky tone to creep into his voice with his question, and he could see Al tighten his grip on Ed a little.

"How would _you_ have dealt with that dick then? Assuming, of course, that you didn't have your flame alchemy?" Ed asked, his tone just below the edge of being scathing as he shook free of Al's grip and crossed his arms as he glared at Mustang.

"Why didn't you just use the stone pillar to try to stop him? That's what I would have done," Mustang pointed out and Ed scoffed.

"The only reason that idiot didn't see me coming was because I used something big to throw at him. He couldn't see me move around the car and ambush him when he dodged." Edward pointed it out like it was something obvious, and Mustang could give him that, but he'd never admit it.

"Why not construct a stone slab to throw at him then?" Mustang parried back, and Ed raised a disbelieving brow.

"You mean, why did I choose the less than a ton car as opposed to making a two- or three-ton stone block to throw at the person who I knew would be able to dodge it, which meant that the shop behind him would be hit? Gee, let me think," Ed said, his tone moving right past scathing and well into the realm of sarcasm. Even Al winced at the level of sarcasm present in the last four words of his brother's reply.

"You could've made it lighter or hollow," Mustang said, feeling his temper and blood pressure rise at the rate they regularly did when dealing with an argumentative Edward.

"Except that I would've had to be more careful with how much force I put behind it or risk him figuring it out and destroying it and damaging even _more_ property," Ed pointed out. "He _is_ one of the better stone alchemists out there," he added begrudgingly while rubbing his left shoulder. The rogue alchemist had managed to land a good hit there, and Ed wasn't appreciative of the nasty bruise that was still healing.

"You can't keep causing so much property damage, Fullmetal! The military can't afford to keep covering it!" Mustang snapped, his temper having got the better of him. He blamed it on the stress of his new responsibilities.

Edward's golden eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment before they narrowed again with his anger. "Then how about the next time you think you could cause less damage than I would, _you_ take the fucking case!" he snarled back as Al tried to calm his brother.

"That wouldn't help since you wouldn't be learning the lesson! Maybe I should have the Führer start taking some, if not all, of the costs out of your pay! You might actually learn something that way!" Mustang suggested scathingly. Edward was about to growl out a response when the phone on Mustang's desk rang again. "We're not done here. Don't you dare go anywhere," Mustang snapped as he stood and strode over to his desk to answer the phone. "Mustang," he bit out when he answered, before he frowned. "Did they say what they wanted?" A pause before, "Put them through."

Ed and Al were having a whispered argument while Mustang was on the phone. He only had to wait a few moments before the phone clicked and the person on the other end of the line told him why they were calling. He barely contained his sigh. "I see. I'll send someone out right away."

"_Thank you, Brigadier General Mustang, sir."_ the soldier who had called said before Mustang hung up.

"We'll discuss this further later, Fullmetal," Mustang said as he turned to face the brothers. "There's a suspicious death out near The Central Circle pub on East Street. Go assist with it until they figure out if it was an intentional or accidental death," Mustang ordered. The sight of the mulish expression on his subordinate's face came with the realisation that their unfinished argument was about to bite him on the ass.

"Why don't _you_ get off your lazy ass and go investigate it? I would _hate_ to cause some unnecessary property damage for the military to deal with," Ed snapped back while Al buried his face in his hands behind him. "Better yet, why don't we go with you? Wouldn't want to pass up the opportunity to watch a _master investigator_ in action, now would we?" Al looked like he was praying for patience if his body language was anything to go by.

Mustang made a snap decision, seizing the opportunity that Edward had just granted him. "Fine. Let's go." He put the reports down on his desk and headed for the door and his coat rack, leaving the teens to scramble to follow after him. Ed's shocked face almost made the lecture he knew he would get from Hawkeye worth it. He seized his top coat and slipped it on, pulling his plain white dress gloves from the pocket and sliding them on to conceal the scars on his hands before walking out while the Elrics followed several paces behind him. He spotted the curious looks that his team wore when they saw he was wearing his coat and gloves. "I'll be back for my two p.m. meeting, Captain," he said risking a glance at Hawkeye and…yes, he'd probably end up with a bullet lodged somewhere nonfatal in his body when he got back.

* * *

The walk down to the military car pool was quiet and Mustang could still sense the general 'what the fuck' feel coming from the two brothers, but he didn't say a word except to requisition a car and driver for a couple of hours from the master sergeant manning the desk. A private introduced as Parton who was assigned to the lot was summoned and minutes later Mustang was giving him the address they were needed at as he and the boys climbed into the back seat.

"Alright, we give. What the fuck is going on, Mustang?" Ed asked with his usual tact.

"You said that you wanted to – and I quote – 'see a master investigator in action'," Mustang reminded him smugly.

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain why _you're_ with us. Now, if you were Lieutenant – I mean, Captain Hawkeye, that would make more sense," Edward told him, and Mustang thought he heard a suspicious cough coming from their driver.

Mustang chose to be the bigger man and ignored Edward's jab. "How is your recovery going, Alphonse? I'm sorry I didn't ask earlier," he said instead, focusing his attention on the younger brother. Both of them ignored Edward's muttered _'nice change in subject'_ as the elder Elric slouched down in his seat more.

"I'm doing a lot better, sir. Thank you for asking. I have a doctor's appointment in two weeks to see if I can be cleared to travel and accompany Brother on his missions again," Al told him cheerily.

Ed's features softened slightly, as did Mustang's. Both of them knew the other would never call them out on it though. It was one of the few times they didn't mention anything about the other showing the slightest bit of weakness, considering how relieved they both were to see Al happy and healthy again. In both of their minds, any concern about Al's health and well-being would _never_ be a weakness.

"That's very good to hear, Alphonse. I hope it goes well for you," Mustang smiled gently and was rewarded with the younger blond smiling back. Being able to see Al _show_ any kind of emotion was still something the team wasn't quite used to yet, even if he had mastered using his tone of voice to convey what he had been thinking or feeling during the years he'd been trapped as a soul bound to a suit of armor.

"Thank you, sir," Al said as Ed nudged his brother's foot and nodded out the car's window. Mustang looked to see what he'd spotted and noted that they were driving down East Street now.

"We're here, sir," Private Parton said, right on time. "Would you like me to remain here with the car, general, or should I return later to pick you up?"

Mustang thought it over for a moment. "Wait here please. I doubt we'll be here for very long." Parton nodded and they exited the vehicle. The smell hit them first, even though the body was further back in the alley and not visible from the main road. It was faint, but unmistakable to anyone who had smelled it even once.

"Oh," Ed said as soon as he'd shut his door. "No wonder they called you." All joking and sarcasm was gone as both State Alchemists tried to control their reactions to the scent of charred meat in the air.

"What is it?" Al asked, confused and not recognizing the odor, although his nose wrinkled in displeasure. Edward winced. His brother hadn't been exposed to this kind of thing much. Even when he'd been in the armor, Edward had tried to keep as much of the death side of the military from Al as he could.

"Burnt body," Ed whispered back to him and he heard Al's sharp inhale. "Don't ask me any questions right now, Al. I don't think I can answer," he added quietly, not looking at either his brother or Mustang. He heard Al's quiet noise of protest and saw a flicker of worry pass across Mustang's expression for the single moment the older alchemist allowed it to show before his practiced mask was back in place. Before anyone could say anything further, a woman whose rank insignia showed that she held the rank of lieutenant colonel approached them.

"Brigadier General Mustang?" she asked as she snapped out a sharp salute. When he nodded and signaled for her to be at ease, she relaxed and offered her hand for him to shake. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Granger." She eyed the teens as Mustang released her hand after shaking it. Her gaze settled on Edward. "The Fullmetal Alchemist, I presume?" she asked, presenting her hand for Edward to shake as well.

"Yup," Ed replied as he shook her hand before gesturing towards Al. "This is my younger brother, Alphonse."

"Pleasure," she said, shaking Al's hand as well before returning her attention to Mustang. "The body is male. He was discovered roughly thirty minutes ago by one of the waitresses who had come in to set up the restaurant for its lunch service. First responders arrived but pronounced him dead at the scene. They ended up taking the waitress to the hospital for shock. The coroner should be here any moment to hopefully give us time and cause of death. If you would follow me?" she asked before heading back towards the alley, giving them no choice but to follow.

As they reached the mouth of the alley, Ed suggested that Al stay there, but his brother ignored him and Ed didn't argue. Stubborn might be one of the first words that someone would come up with to describe Edward, but it was definitely a trait that both Elrics had in abundance. Mustang only shook his head and hid his amusement before the sight of the body killed any lightheartedness about the situation.

The body was half burnt, from the middle of the torso up to the head. The charring was deep and severe enough that the man wasn't recognizable, and the body was curled up slightly, in an almost defensive stance, with the burned hands in an approximation of a boxer's guard. Both Ed and Mustang took a deep breath to steady their stomachs and steel their nerves before they crouched down next to the body to get a better look. Al took a few steps back and focused on his breathing for a moment, but no one blamed him if he looked a little green at the gruesome sight. There were other officers milling about, taking photos of everything and hunting for potential witnesses. Lieutenant Colonel Granger stood a respectful distance away before the sound of a vehicle pulling up caught her attention and she motioned for a nearby captain to go and lead the person through.

"That will be the coroner. What are your thoughts, sirs?"

"That burn pattern is weird, right?" Ed asked, not worried about seeming like he knew everything for the moment. This was something he'd only ever dealt with one time before (since he didn't count the fake body that Mustang had burned in order to aid Lieutenant Ross' escape from custody), and he'd barely glimpsed Harding's body after he'd destroyed the alchemised box that he had used to trap the mutated alchemist inside with Mustang's flames.

"Yes. It appears something flammable was tipped or spilled on his head and face. See how the burn isn't quite as severe on the back of his head and neck?" Mustang pointed out. Ed nodded. "Since we're in an area known for its pubs and nightlife, I'd hazard a guess that he went out drinking last night and either had a drink splashed in his face just before stumbling out here or he spilled some alcohol onto himself. It's possible he came out here for a cigarette, lit it up, and the alcohol fumes caught fire."

"General Mustang? Brother?" Al spoke up and both alchemists turned to see what was wrong. The younger teen pointed to a dark brown, half-broken, half-melted bottle of whiskey nearly buried in trash a few feet from the body.

"Sergeant Wilson! Photograph and bag this," Granger called, waving the man with the camera over and gesturing towards the bottle. Wilson immediately did as he was told, softly asking Al to move as he snapped the photos he needed before producing a bag and, using a gloved hand, placed it inside and scribbling something on it before heading to the parked cars to place it in the growing box of evidence. Per protocol, this death would be treated as suspicious until the investigators were told otherwise.

"If there's a head wound, it could have been caused by him trying to escape the flames, jerking back and hitting the wall hard enough to stun or knock himself clean out. Once he was unconscious and on fire, the heat and the smoke from the flames would have sealed his airway shut," Mustang continued as he looked over the body's head again. "I think the coroner will find that he died of suffocation, rather than the flames themselves."

"What about the position of the body?" Al asked. "That's a defensive stance and he's got his hands up to protect his face. It's also hard to tell under the burns, but it looks sort of like there are some other wounds of some kind. Doesn't that mean that he might have been fighting someone?"

Mustang shook his head and straightened up to allow Doctor Knox through. "Doctor Knox, good morning."

"Yeah, yeah, good morning Mustang. Get out of my way."

"To answer your question, Al, no. If someone is alive and unconscious when they're on fire, the body's natural impulse is to curl up like that. It has to do with the way the muscles stiffen and shorten as they're burned," Mustang added, a somewhat clinical tone to his voice as he stepped aside to allow Knox to pass.

"Are you going to do the autopsy for me next, Mustang?" Doctor Knox grumped in ill-temper. The coroner was crouched beside the body, and after a moment produced a wallet from the pocket of the victim's pants. He held it out to Lieutenant Colonel Granger.

"I would hate to deprive you of the pleasures of your job," Mustang replied with a small smile.

"Colonel Frank Chambers. He was an assessor for the State Alchemist program," Granger told them after checking the victim's identification. Mustang immediately stiffened and stepped away from the body and towards Alphonse.

"I apologise, Lieutenant Colonel. Fullmetal and I will need to excuse ourselves from this investigation," Mustang told her. Ed looked surprised while Granger's expression was a blend of suspicious and curious.

"May I ask why, General Mustang?" Her voice was polite enough, but there was an undercurrent of thirst to know sounding there.

"Yeah, what gives?" Ed asked, sounding annoyed and confused. No one commented on the soft, scolding tone of "Brother" coming from behind them.

"Conflict of interest," Mustang replied. "Three weeks ago, Chambers denied the application of an alchemist whom I had recommended to the State Alchemist program because he had a minor assault charge for a street brawl on his record. Chambers and I got into an argument because I pointed out that it shouldn't affect his application, not under Führer Grumman's new guidelines for potential State Alchemists. The alchemist in question hadn't started the altercation, hadn't resisted his arrest or the charges levied against him, and had served the time he'd been sentenced before being released without any negative marks about his behaviour or mental health indicated on his record. Chambers still declined the application and refused to budge in his decision. This alchemist would be an asset to the military, something that I had tried to argue as well, and I threatened to take the matter higher if Chambers refused to change his mind or supply a valid reason under Führer Grumman's new rules as to why the alchemist shouldn't be approved," Mustang explained.

Edward vaguely wondered who this new alchemist was, considering _he_ was the only one – as far as he knew, anyway – that Mustang had ever recommended to the State Alchemist program.

"I filed the necessary paperwork last week to take my complaint further up the chain of command and was expecting the results of the inquisition sometime late next week. As far as I know, Chambers was planning on filing paperwork accusing me of using my position to push through unfit applications, but I don't know for certain if he actually filed the paperwork or not," Mustang finished before gesturing to Ed. "I'm ordering Fullmetal to stay away from this for the same reason, since he's my subordinate and I don't want to even create the appearance of a potential conflict of interest. I don't think you would appreciate all of your hard work being thrown out at trial because we were involved."

Granger sighed before she nodded. "Thank you for your assistance, Brigadier General Mustang, Major Elric, but I believe you are correct in this matter and I appreciate your forthrightness." The three alchemists turned to leave, Al having stayed silent during the exchange, when Granger spoke again. "If I may ask before you leave, sir?"

Mustang and Ed turned back to face her. Seeing as how she had their attention, Granger continued. "You mentioned a trial. Why do you no longer believe this to be the accidental scenario you described earlier? With the spilled whiskey and cigarette?"

Mustang sighed. "Chambers wasn't a smoker and was very vocal about his displeasure for anyone who did," he replied. "Even drunk, he wouldn't have come outside to smoke."

Granger nodded in understanding and the three alchemists turned and headed back to their car, Mustang giving Parton the order to take them back to Central Command.

As the car pulled away, Granger decided that the brigadier general had been right to pull himself and his subordinate back from involvement in the case. If he'd stayed on and that information had come to light, he would've been accused of trying to influence the investigation away from himself with the purpose of framing someone else. She, of course, would have to investigate his story further and ask him for his alibi for the early hours of this morning and last night, assuming the coroner could give her time of death. It didn't slip by her that, given the way the victim appeared to have been killed and what Mustang had just told her, the brigadier general would likely have been her first stop so that she could clear him of any involvement and move on to other suspects. After all, Brigadier General Mustang was a hero of the Ishvalan Civil War as well as the Promised Day – he wouldn't have had anything to do with this.

The same sorts of thoughts were crossing the minds of those who had heard Mustang's words. He would've definitely been a suspect, but the man was a war hero. There was no way he would've killed a man like this because of a silly argument that was already being resolved legally. The investigative team all mentally shook their heads as they got back to work. As disappointing as it was not having the Flame Alchemist's knowledge or the Fullmetal Alchemist's help on the matter, they still had a job to do.

* * *

"Brother?" Al asked as they headed towards the gate leading out of Central Command. Mustang had dismissed Edward almost as soon as Private Parton had pulled the car into its spot and headed back up to his office without wanting to further discuss Ed's most recent mission. Edward hadn't argued, since he didn't feel like getting into another verbal sparring match with his commander over his last mission at the moment.

"Yeah, Al?" Ed asked as they exited through the closest gate and turned down the street to head back to Gracia's apartment.

"Are you alright?" Al asked pointedly and they both knew exactly why he was asking. Harding's death had messed with Ed's head to the point that Mustang had been worried enough to stage an intervention to help him overcome the guilt he felt about taking a human life. Neither of them had been idiots; both of them had known why Edward had been acting that way, but Mustang had reminded Al again that Edward wouldn't say anything until he wanted to. He'd only been forced to intervene when he had because Edward had nearly gotten himself killed when he'd single-handedly taken on an entire gang of thugs and provoked them to a killing rage while being alone and sleep-deprived due to the nightmares he'd been having since their return from America.

"I think so. It was more of a shock than anything, but I think I was kind of expecting it, you know? Why else would they call Mustang out personally? I mean, everyone knows that he's only called in on investigations when there's a fire or something similar, so I'd already suspected that's what we'd be going to see," Ed said quietly as they crossed the street together.

"It's weird that it was someone the brigadier general knew and was arguing with though wasn't it?" Al hummed thoughtfully.

"You heard what the bastard said. Chambers, or whatever his name was, had turned that alchemist down for a dumb reason. If he has done something like that to someone that was recommended by Mustang of all people, imagine what he might have done under Bradley's regime to people who came without the recommendation of an egotistical colonel or general?" Ed shrugged. "I had enough trouble getting permission to take the entrance exam because of my age, and I had Mustang's recommendation. If Chambers had been the one assessing me, I suspect that I wouldn't have been given permission to take the test, period. My assessor just humored Mustang – I could tell he thought that Mustang was crazy for sponsoring a twelve-year old. I'm just glad that I'm _not_ the one in charge of that case though. I don't envy Lieutenant Colonel Granger at all."

"Why's that, Brother?" Al asked, and Ed smirked before reaching out to ruffle his brother's golden hair affectionately.

"Can you imagine me having to interview all the people that Chambers has turned down over the years and listen to their sob stories about why they were turned away? Most of them would probably ask me to recommend them, and then they'd be pissed off at me when I wouldn't. You know how well I deal with people like that," Ed replied, his smirk turning to a full grin as Al laughed out loud.

"You're right Brother. It's probably for the best that General Mustang pulled you away. I don't think he'd appreciate all the paperwork you would cause him for punching that many people."

"HEY!"

Alphonse laughed and began to run down the street as Edward pursued him, the two teens' laughter mingling as they raced back toward Gracia Hughes' apartment.

A/N - So here is a brand new story for all of you! This is the third installment to my Agents, meet Alchemists series (fourth if you count my FMA/Voltron crossover as part of the series because I did mention the agents in there and the Paladins will be mentioned in this story as well). Updates, as always, will be weekly unless there is a reason I can't post it that day, in which case I will post it ASAP. Many thanks to my lovely beta, PhoenixQueen, who has been helping me with the chapters for this story and is reviewing them as we go. If you're new to this series, you'll notice that AMA2 is written differently and that's because it hasn't gone under revision yet but it will be soon so the series should read so much smoother! I would absolutely love to hear from every single person who reads this chapter, pretty please!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

_Three weeks after the Voltron adventure…_

It had taken Mustang three weeks to finally catch up on all of the paperwork that had accumulated while he and Edward had been in space assisting with the overthrow of the Galra Empire. He had been staying at the office late into the evening – sometimes not leaving until nearly ten p.m. as well as coming in an hour early each morning in order to catch up – since in addition to the paperwork that had piled up during his absence, there was still the additional paperwork that crossed his desk every single day. While most of it just had to be read and signed off on so that the reports could officially be filed, there were other parts that required specific actions to be taken in response: requisitions to fill, formal responses to be composed and sent back, mission briefings to create…there were some days where it seemed to be never ending. On top of the paperwork, of course, he regularly had meetings scheduled with other members of Führer Grumman's high command, State Alchemists to meet with and assign missions to, meetings with the officers and citizens aiding him with his self-appointed mission of assisting the Ishvalans with the restoration efforts of their holy land…

He'd set a routine for himself. He would work on the accumulated paperwork from the time he came into the office in the morning until lunchtime, except during the times when he had to be in one of the various meetings he was responsible for attending now. He was relying on Hawkeye to prioritise the reports for him to make sure that the most critical ones got reviewed and dealt with first. Then he'd have a brief lunch break before tackling the paperwork that had been sent to him that day, not leaving the office until it was done, no matter how late into the evening he was required to stay, even after everyone else on his team, including Hawkeye, had left for the day. He was always careful to leave it neatly stacked and organised on Captain Hawkeye's desk before he left for the night, knowing just how close she had been to shooting him when he and Edward had gotten back. He wasn't willing to risk pushing her past the edge of her patience and causing her to put a bullet hole in him by complaining or missing even one piece of paper, so he kept his head down and worked his fingers to the bone.

When the final morning of playing catch up had finally arrived, he nearly cheered as he signed his name to the last form with a flourish before taking the pile to Hawkeye for her to send it to whomever it needed to go to before treating himself to an early lunch for a change. He left the office and headed to one of his favourite restaurants, which was only two blocks from Central Command. It was a small café that he and Maes had enjoyed frequenting together on the semi-rare occasions when his work had brought him to Central during the time he'd been assigned to East City.

After paying for his meal, he headed back into the office and, due to a lack of meetings for the remainder of the morning, even managed to get in a quick nap while the rest of his team members were taking their lunch breaks. Hawkeye's entrance into his inner office with a stack of fresh paperwork for the day woke him and he took it without complaint. When she didn't leave immediately, he stopped in the middle of the act of reaching for his pen and looked up at her with curiosity. "Is something wrong, Captain?"

"I thought you would want to know, sir. Captain Chase Bryce was found dead in an alleyway near The Amestrian on Port Street. The unofficial reports say that the coroner is tentatively ruling it an accidental death since the man had reportedly been inebriated the previous night and there's evidence of a head wound. It appears he stepped out for a cigarette, knocked himself out by falling over, and the lit cigarette either ignited his clothing or a spilled puddle of alcohol nearby," Hawkeye stated.

Mustang was silent for a moment as he considered the report. "That's a bit of a strange coincidence," he said finally. Hawkeye raised a brow in curiosity, so he elaborated. "I've known Bryce since our academy days, but we've never gotten along. But last night while I was on my way home, I decided to stop at The Amestrian for a drink. I saw Bryce while I was there. He was harassing one of the barmaids, so I intervened and told him to knock it off. He recognised me and tried to start a fight, but I ignored him. The bouncer finally had to come and throw him out because he got too rowdy. I left about a half hour after that, but I never saw or smelled anything."

Hawkeye hummed thoughtfully. "That _is_ an unusual coincidence. Do you want me to reach out to the investigator in charge to let them know you had an altercation with Bryce the night he died, sir?"

Mustang shook his head. "No. The investigator should be the one to reach out, and if he or she is doing their job properly, they will."

Hawkeye gave a sharp nod. "Very well, sir." She indicated the stack of paperwork she had just handed him. "Those are the most recent requisition forms and reports coming back from Major Miles and the rest of the restoration team in Ishval. They need to be finished by tonight."

Mustang nodded to dismiss her and she snapped off a crisp salute before turning on her heel and heading out of his private office towards her desk in the outer office, pulling the door closed in her wake. Mustang sighed and pulled the new pile closer towards him. One more afternoon of aching fingers and he'd be able to go back to his routine from before he and Edward had gone to aid the Paladins of Voltron, including being able to continue his alchemic research.

He was deep into the most recent report from Major Miles when a knock on the door brought him back to the present a few hours later. He blinked a few times before he refocused his attention. "Enter."

Hawkeye pushed the door open and saluted, moving into parade rest when he waved a hand at her. "My apologies for disturbing you sir, but Lieutenant Colonel Charlie Brookes from Investigations is requesting a few minutes of your time. His request is related to the death of Captain Bryce."

Mustang placed Miles' report back on his desk and nodded. "Admit him, Captain." She nodded sharply and left the door open as she turned back to the outer office and gestured for someone to approach. Mustang rose to his feet and rounded his desk to meet the lieutenant colonel in the center of the room.

Brookes was a little shorter than average height with brown hair cut close to his head and brown eyes. He wasn't the type one normally thought of when one pictured a soldier, but his overall demeanor and way of carrying himself did suit his role as an investigator, and Mustang had heard enough through the military grapevine to know that he was extremely competent where his job was concerned.

He had met Charlie Brookes just after Mustang and his team had been assigned to Central Command following the death of Maes Hughes. Brookes was only a couple of years younger than Mustang himself, but he had a more nervous demeanor than Hughes ever had. Brookes had just been promoted to lieutenant colonel and had immediately sought Mustang out to offer his condolences about Maes and to inform them that he had been ordered to take over Maes' position in the Investigations department. When Mustang had asked why he was bothering to tell him news that would undoubtedly reach him in a matter of days, Brookes had simply stated that if he had been the one in Mustang's place, he would want the person who would be his taking over his best friend's job to be the one to tell him himself. That level of courtesy and integrity had impressed Mustang.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes," Mustang greeted as the officer saluted him. "It's good to see you again."

He nodded at Hawkeye, who left the office, pulling the door closed as she went. He offered a hand to Brookes, which was accepted and shaken by the younger officer, before indicating the couches in the center of the room. "What can I do for you?"

Brookes moved over to one of the couches, leaving Mustang to take the other one so that they were facing each other across the coffee table. "I'm leading up the investigation into the death of Captain Chase Bryce. I'm sure you've been informed of the discovery of his body by now?" Mustang nodded. "While we're still waiting for the coroner's official autopsy report to be released, the working theory is that the man was very inebriated, went into the alley behind The Amestrian, tripped over something when he lit a cigarette, knocked himself out and the lit cigarette ignited some spilled alcohol on his clothing. Since he was unconscious and no one was out there with him, he burned to death."

He noted the flash of pity and something else in Mustang's eyes. Something dark, or possibly horror? It was gone faster than he could decipher what he had just seen.

"While that is an unfortunate way to go, I'm not entirely sure what you're here for," Mustang replied. "Bryce wasn't a State Alchemist, nor was he a part of the team whose efforts to assist the Ishvalans I am overseeing. He wasn't within my circle of acquaintances or a member of my chain of command."

Brookes nodded. "I'm aware of that, General. Until the coroner makes his ruling definite, we have to assume this was a suspicious death and investigate accordingly, as I'm sure you're already aware." Mustang dipped his chin in acknowledgement. He was well aware of how Investigations proceeded on every case that came to them, thanks to his long friendship with Hughes. "We interviewed several people who were in The Amestrian last night, and most of them indicated that you and Bryce had had an altercation. Would you tell me about that?"

Mustang felt a small surge of pride at being proven right. "Of course, Lieutenant Colonel. Four weeks ago I was forced to take sick leave when I was affected by a virus that both I and my subordinate Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist caught. When I returned from my leave, I was quite far behind on my paperwork, so I've been working late every night to get caught up, including last night. I'd finished last night at ten-fifteen and was the last one to leave the office, and I decided to grab a nightcap or two from The Amestrian since it was on my way home. I believe I entered the establishment at some point between ten-thirty and ten-forty-five p.m. I had my first drink and had just ordered a second when I noticed Bryce."

Brookes noted how the general's eyes glazed over slightly as he recalled the order of the events. He pulled out his notepad and began making notes about the general's statement.

"He was trying to pick up one of the barmaids, but she was very clearly not interested in him. He was refusing to accept her rejection and was harassing her. She moved past him to return to the bar once she had delivered her tray of drinks when he grabbed her arm and started to yell at her. I believe I heard him call her a 'dirty whore', which was when I intervened."

"What happened next?" Brookes asked, eyes flicking up to meet Mustang's before focusing back on his notepad. So far, everything that the general had said had been confirmed by their other eyewitnesses.

"Well, he didn't take my interference very well, especially once he recognised me. We attended the military academy together, you see. We never got along there either. I believe that he was of the opinion that I thought I was better than the other soldiers in our class because I am an alchemist. I wasn't the only alchemist in our group, but I was the most powerful, and I think he believed that I was getting special treatment because of it. Nothing could have been further from the truth, but I paid no mind to the rumors since I didn't think much of him personally. Trust me when I say that the way he treated the barmaid last night was not uncommon behaviour for him," Mustang replied. "I told him to knock his behaviour off since the lady wasn't interested in him or I would have to put him on report for conduct unbecoming of an officer. His response was to tell me to fuck off, or at least that's what I think he was saying. He wasn't very coherent at that point. He slurred some more insults at me, and then took a swing at me when I didn't react to his words. He missed by a mile, but it was enough for the bouncer to get involved and throw him out. I believe that was around eleven-fifteen or so. I had my second drink and left a few minutes later after settling my tab and checking on the waitress. I was back at home by eleven-forty."

Brookes nodded as he jotted the information down. "And you didn't see, hear, or smell anything unusual when you left the tavern?"

Mustang shook his head. "No. I'll admit that I had expected Bryce to be outside when I left, but he wasn't, so I assumed that he'd either stumbled off home or found his way to another pub. Even though I would have been well within my rights to put him on report as I'd told him I would, I decided not to since no one was actually hurt in the altercation. I didn't see any flames or hear anything out of the ordinary, nor did I smell anything. I'm far more familiar with the smell of a burning body than anyone should be, after all."

Brookes winced slightly at the subtle mention of the Ishvalan Civil War. He hadn't been involved in that particular conflict since he'd joined the military the year it ended, but that didn't mean that he was unaware of what had happened or General Mustang's involvement. He wondered if that could explain the other expression he'd seen in Mustang's eye when he'd described Bryce's death. _Bad memories_, Brookes decided. _It just has to be bad memories._

After the Promised Day, the new Führer, the former Lieutenant General Grumman, had declassified thousands of documents related to the Ishvalan Civil War in order for the surviving members of Bradley's high command to be properly prosecuted. It didn't take long for the truth about what had really happened in Ishval to spread among the military, and if it wasn't for an agreement between the Ishvalans and the new Führer, there most likely would have been hundreds of court-martials to process relating to war crimes committed during the Civil War. Instead, with the acceptance and agreement of the Ishvalans, all of the still-living State Alchemists and many of the other soldiers who had been involved in the War had received full pardons – which included Brigadier General Mustang.

"Alright. I think that's all I need to know." Brookes stood up as he spoke, tucking his notepad away in his jacket pocket. "Thank you for your time, General Mustang." Brookes stretched out his hand and Mustang grasped it tightly.

"You're welcome, Lieutenant Colonel. Please let me know if you need to ask any more questions or need me to sign a formal statement. Best of luck in your investigation."

Brookes saluted before leaving the inner office, and Mustang moved back to his desk. He didn't return to Miles' report, however, instead leaning back in his leather chair thoughtfully. He heard Brookes bid farewell to the rest of his team and the outer door into the corridor open and then shut again. With a sigh he shifted back into an upright position and was just reaching for his pen when Hawkeye entered his office once more, although this time he knew why.

He waited for her to approach his desk before looking up at her and raising a silent brow. She gave him a flat look and he sighed before leaning back in his chair and twirling his pen in between his fingers. "Brookes just needed my statement about what happened between myself and Captain Bryce last night. The coroner hasn't made his ruling yet, though he's suggesting that it could be an accident. Some of the other patrons in the bar last night told Brookes about our altercation and he needed to follow up."

"Very well. Don't forget that the paperwork still needs to be done today, sir." Hawkeye said before coming to attention with a salute and taking her leave. Mustang sighed forcefully through his nose, but returned his attention to the pile of paperwork in front of him.

* * *

Just over two weeks later, a report reached Mustang's office that a major named Colin Pardi had been found murdered and his corpse burned. Mustang received word mainly because Pardi had been a State Alchemist and thus fell indirectly under Mustang's command. Since being promoted to brigadier general, he had been serving as the second-in-command of the State Alchemist program under Major General Bernard Andrews.

Hawkeye had brought the report to him at the same time she had entered his office to let him know that Edward was in the office to report in on one of the many smaller missions that Mustang had been assigning him around Central – mainly assisting the MPs with some of their ongoing cases. Normally the State Alchemists and the MPs were two completely separate branches, but Edward's skills in combat and alchemy made him a valuable asset when it came to helping to apprehend large groups or violent offenders that normally wouldn't fall under the purview of the field alchemists. If Mustang didn't have a mission for him outside of Central, Edward tended to just keep himself available to assist the MPs, and spent the rest of his time doing alchemic research with Alphonse or helping Gracia Hughes care for Elysia.

Edward entered Mustang's office as Mustang was reading over the report on Pardi's death. "You've got another mission for me, bastard?"

Mustang just rolled his eyes. "No, this isn't related to you. It's a report on the death of another State Alchemist last night – he was found burned in an alley behind a bar he tended to frequent. His name was Major Colin Pardi, the Fortifying Alchemist."

Edward frowned. "I don't think I've met him, but that name sounds familiar."

"His specialty was in creating and strengthening structures made of earth and stone," Mustang observed. "He was likely selected by Bradley to assist with building fortifications for our military if another war had broken out with Aerugo, Creta, or Drachma. From the records, it looks like he was the last State Alchemist that Bradley appointed before the Promised Day, but Führer Grumman sent him out to Ishval right after the Promised Day as a sign of good faith that we were willing to help with the rebuilding. He thought that Pardi would be better suited to helping create homes for all the displaced Ishvalans."

"Huh." Edward crossed his arms over his chest and allowed his chin to drop as he thought. His golden bangs fell forward to cover his eyes for several seconds as Mustang finished reading the report and set it aside, before his head suddenly snapped up. "Wait, I know where I've heard that name before. Scar wrote to me about him!" He dug into the pocket of his red coat and pulled out the battered journal where he kept his research notes. He flipped the book open to a page in the middle and pulled out a folded letter from where it had been sandwiched between the pages. He unfolded it and began skimming through it, apparently searching for something.

Mustang still wasn't used to the fact that Edward was willingly corresponding with the redeemed serial killer who had once been dead-set on killing him. Even stranger was the fact that the alchemist and the Ishvalan seemed to be on the path to actually becoming friends and not just tentative allies fighting together for a mutual benefit.

Edward made a victorious sound and brought the letter over and pointed to a particular spot on the second page. "Here; Scar wanted me to pass along the gratitude of the Ishvalan elders and himself to Pardi, Andrews, and Grumman for sending Pardi out to aid in the rebuilding."

Mustang took the letter and read the paragraph that Edward had indicated.

"_In addition, Edward, please pass on my thanks to Führer Grumman for sending Major Pardi out to aid us. Due to his efforts, the vast majority of my people have been resettled in safe, comfortable homes again and we can devote our attention to rebuilding our markets, temples, and other public buildings. Despite my personal feelings about the man, we cannot deny his talent or the fact that without his aid it would likely have taken a least a decade just to get our people resettled."_

"What does he mean by, 'despite my personal feelings about the man'?" Mustang asked as he passed the letter back to his subordinate without reading any further, despite his desire to know what else Edward wrote to the redeemed serial killer about.

"Based on the last few letters he sent me before we fought the Galra, it seems like Pardi was alright to start with, but as he learned more and more about what had actually happened in Ishval and witnessed the destruction himself, he became more and more aggravated about the events. Scar said it was like he was personally offended by what had happened. At first, he thought Pardi was just upset that someone had managed to orchestrate events to manipulate two races to wipe each other out, but then he told me that Pardi was especially upset when he learned that the Ishvalans had agreed to the pardons." Ed said, taking the letter, folding it up and putting it back in his journal.

"Why would Pardi care? He wasn't even a State Alchemist when the war was going on." Mustang asked.

Edward leaned his hip against the edge of Mustang's desk and crossed his arms over his chest. "I got the impression that it was like he refused to believe that the Ishvalans would forgive Amestris after everything that happened, even though we were manipulated and the Ishvalans now have a treaty with Amestris that is heavily in their favour. In the end, Scar and a few of the elders had to ask Pardi to stop ranting about how the Ishvalans should be trying to get justice, that the pardons were nothing but an insult, and they should demand an equal blood payment. Scar said that's why he was sent back to Central. The Ishvalan elders were worried that his rhetoric might inflame their people again and either cause them to attack him or stir up the old animosities."

That was when Mustang recalled where he knew the man's name from. During the time when he and Edward had been assisting the Paladins of Voltron, Pardi had returned to Amestris and had been causing a major problem with his protests about Ishval. He had demanded that Mustang and the others who had fought alongside him in Ishval be imprisoned for war crimes. He'd been disciplined by Andrews for the stir he was causing, but the disciplinary action had only caused him to yell louder and become more fervent in his rhetoric every time he was reminded that the pardons had been issued with the Ishvalans' consent since the whole war had been a set-up, orchestrated by the same group that had been behind the Promised Day. Due to the disciplinary action against him, he was off active duty as a State Alchemist for the time being, so Mustang had never interacted with him.

Edward had picked up the report on Pardi's death. "It's weird though," he muttered as his golden eyes raked over the report hungrily.

"What is?" Mustang asked and the blond alchemist gave him an incredulous look in response.

"Two fire related deaths in less than three weeks? Both of them military and found in an alley behind a bar? That's weird."

Mustang was momentarily confused before he remembered Bryce. "I won't argue that it's odd, but if the deaths were connected, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes would've put the two together by now. Besides, Captain Bryce's death was ruled an accidental death caused by an unfortunate string of events."

"It's still weird," Ed huffed as Mustang reclaimed the report on Pardi's death and made a note to have the man removed from the list of active State Alchemists and to have someone clean out his personal belongings and ensure that his death benefits were paid to any surviving family members. "So, anyway, why am I actually here?" Ed asked as he straightened up.

"New mission for you. Read the report and tell me what you need," Mustang told him, handing him the appropriate file and pointing towards the couch.

In typical fashion, Ed harrumphed at him, his eyes glazing over suddenly – a sign Mustang knew meant he was talking to the Lions, a fact he still couldn't believe Ed could do, especially because of the dimensional barrier – before grinning humorously and slouching down in his favourite position on the couch and delving into the contents of the file as Mustang used the quiet to get a few more papers read and signed.

Mustang would be the first to admit that he hadn't really believed Ed when he'd first announced that he was still connected to the five Lions when they'd arrived back in Amestris, but he knew it was true. Ed wouldn't have the patience to keep up with a joke for as long as this and there were signs, like his eyes glazing over whenever he spoke to the Lions, or when he passed along a message from one of the Lions or the Paladins to Mustang that verified the younger alchemist's claims.

Personally, Mustang was glad that Edward had the Lions' support, especially after the way that Edward had killed Haggar with his automail blade. The younger alchemist had been even more distraught in the wake of the witch's death than he had been after assisting in the death of Harding back in America, so the fact that the Lions were there to comfort, tease, and support him was reassuring. He just hoped that Edward would accept their help where he might not accept the help of Alphonse, Gracia, or his commanding officer. Overall, he'd been seeing increasing signs of maturity from Edward since their return from assisting the Lions and their Paladins, and that was something that he welcomed whole-heartedly.

* * *

Lieutenant Colonel Charlie Brookes sighed as he walked into the alley to investigate another burned body. This one was the third found, only twelve days after the second one, and he felt like his gut instinct that these three cases were connected and that the death of Bryce had been incorrectly ruled as an accident and was, in fact, this killer's first victim had just been proven correct. He directed his team to collect and photograph evidence, talk to potential witnesses and the owners and workers in the businesses surrounding the area to see if they'd heard anything. The burnt remains of the blue military uniform told him that he was looking at another soldier and he couldn't help but wonder if the killer was simply taking out military men.

He shook his head as the coroner arrived and after a few moments accepted the wallet and identification handed to him. "Colonel James Summers," Brookes read aloud. "Forty-seven years old, male."

"I'll get him back to the morgue and let you know my findings when I make them," the coroner told him and Brookes nodded, allowing the man's assistant through so the two could wrap the body and load it into the coroner's vehicle. Brookes sighed as he watched the car pull away and continued helping his men process where the body had been lying.

* * *

Once he was back at his little office, he immediately pulled up Colonel Summers' personnel file and poured over it. Summers had been assigned to Central Command since his first year in the military, except for a few years when he'd been in Ishval near the end of the Civil War. He had joined when he'd been seventeen and had been steadily working his way up the ranks ever since, having received his last promotion two years before the Promised Day. Summers' mother was still alive, although his father had passed away six months ago after a brief, but intense battle with lung cancer. Brookes sighed, knowing that he'd have to go and break the news about her son's murder to the elderly woman and he allowed himself to feel a pang of sympathy for the worst news that she would probably ever receive.

An hour later found Brookes at the front door of the small, sturdy, but tidy home and he raised his fist to knock. He could hear the quick-paced shuffling and small huffs of breath before the door opened and he came face-to-face with Mrs. Summers' smiling face. The smile dimmed a little when she didn't recognise him immediately, but she didn't look concerned. After all, military officers were a common sight in Amestris, but especially so in Central City.

"May I help you, officer?" she asked.

"My name is Lieutenant Colonel Charlie Brookes, ma'am. I'm here about your son, Colonel James Summers. May I come in?" Brookes asked and she nodded, opening the door wider to permit him entrance as her eyes took in the rank insignia on his uniform and he saw a brief flash of fear before she steeled herself.

She didn't say a word and Brookes could see her eyes begin to water as she followed his suggestion to sit down. He took a deep breath and broke the bad news, feeling his heart clench as he said the formal words. "I'm very sorry to have to be the one to tell you, ma'am, but we found your son dead this morning. We believe he was murdered."

There was a moment of stunned silence before the woman broke into heart-wrenching, wailing sobs. Brookes sat quietly; waiting for the woman to get some control over herself so she could ask the question he knew would be coming.

"W-who? Who would m-murder my s-son?" she asked, her sobs slowing enough for her to form a coherent sentence.

Brookes shook his head. "We don't know yet, ma'am. It's too early in our investigation to have any definite answers. I was hoping that you would be able to tell me if your son had any significant enemies or conflicts that we should know about. Was there anyone whom he didn't get along with or was there someone he had recently had a major argument with?"

Mrs. Summers rubbed at her eyes as she thought over his questions. The tears never stopped rolling down her cheeks. "I don't know much about his life in the military. His father and I were never very supportive of his career choice. We didn't oppose him joining, but we didn't encourage him either, so he never told us much. We were worried about him when he was posted out in Ishval during the Civil War, but other than writing us a few letters that let us know he was still alive and would be home soon, he didn't really say much about what he was doing for the military." Her tone was apologetic, even through her tears. "I know that he had been complaining a couple of months ago about a young colonel being promoted to brigadier general. James felt the fact that the colonel was already being made a general when he was barely thirty was a sign of favouritism on the part of Führer Grumman."

"Did he say anything about why he believed this was a sign of favouritism?" Brookes asked with his notepad and pen at the ready.

"James enlisted when he was seventeen and he's been working his way through the ranks towards a leadership position. He didn't feel that it was fair for someone so young and inexperienced to have that level of authority and that the only reason he received the promotion was because the colonel is a State Alchemist and has another famous State Alchemist as his subordinate. James also believed that Führer Grumman has been playing favourites since his granddaughter is also a subordinate under the new general's command." She sniffed again and reached for a box of tissues. Brookes was quick to pass the box over to her.

"Thank you, Mrs. Summers. That information will help us. Is there anyone you'd like me to call for you?" Brookes asked, but the elderly lady shook her head. "I'll leave my name and number for you to call if you remember anything else or need anything else. Please, don't hesitate to call, day or night." Brookes stood and moved over to the phone, where he left one of his cards. He put his hat back on and moved towards the door, a little startled when she rose to her feet and walked him over to the door. "Someone from the military will be in touch soon to help with making funeral arrangements. Based on what I saw in his file, your son will be buried with full honours and receive a proper send off. I am very sorry for your loss, ma'am," he added as he stepped over the threshold. He heard the door click softly behind him and the slow shuffle of her feet as the woman made her way across her worn, wooden floors back to her couch.

Brookes heaved a sigh as he made his way back to his waiting car. He got into the vehicle, started the engine, and pulled away from the Summers' home. This was the third victim found killed in the same way in just under a month. Brookes was now convinced that Bryce was a victim and not a random accident. The coincidences were too great to ignore. All three were found dead in an alleyway, all three were burned with no obvious signs of an accelerant or ignition point, and the coroner had yet to get his test results back on the charred material of their clothing. All three were mid-to-high ranking officers in the military, and all three were men. But the biggest clincher was the fact that all three had some kind of issue or problem with Brigadier General Mustang.

Brookes shook his head. There was no way that Mustang was the person behind these attacks, as the actual killer or the orchestrator. The man was a decorated war hero twice over, and from everything that Brookes had heard about him, well-liked and respected. While it was true that he had a bit of a reputation for being a womanizer, Brookes hadn't seen anything in his record to make him believe that Mustang had ever abused his position or used his rank to take advantage of a woman. All of the victims to this point were below him in rank, so unless they had had concrete evidence of some nefarious action by Mustang, their grumbling and complaining wouldn't have been any threat to him and would simply have been taken as jealousy or an attempt to foster dissent in the ranks.

After all, why would Mustang risk his career, reputation, and freedom killing three men who had what amounted to personality conflicts with him, all factors considered? Brookes shook his head to clear it once more. No, this had nothing to do with Mustang. It was far more likely that the victims had all been chosen simply because they were military men.

* * *

As he pulled his car into his parking space, Brookes turned the things he had learned about James Summers over in his head. He made his way to his office, nodding to the soldiers that he passed along the way, but not stopping to acknowledge them any further. Each detail or fact of the three murders was trying to swarm to the front of his mind's eye, making connections between random bits of information for him to consider or dismiss. The one thing that kept coming back to the forefront of his mind was the connection to Mustang each of the victims had, however.

He made it to his office and entered, nodding to his team as he walked through to his desk. He paused near Sheska's desk. After his promotion to fill Brigadier General Hughes' spot, he'd met with her and offered her the opportunity to remain in her position as his secretary despite the fact that she wasn't military, and she'd accepted the offer gratefully, afraid that Hughes' death meant she might not get to keep her job and would be forced to move her mother out of the hospital she was in. Sheska passed him all the messages he had accumulated during his absence and he thanked her before entering his office and sitting at his desk with a sigh.

Most of the messages were ones he'd been expecting. A call from the coroner's office to say that he'd arrived back at the morgue with Summers' body and was scheduling an autopsy. Several messages from soldiers who were out following up leads for him and his team had called back to say that none of the leads had panned out or had resulted in similar answers to what their investigation into Pardi's death had come up with. Rubbing his temples, Brookes leaned into his hands, resting his elbows on his desk and just breathing for a few moments before organising his thoughts.

The first thing he did once he'd gotten his thoughts in order was call the coroner back and ask him to double check his findings on Bryce's death to make certain it wasn't connected to Pardi or Summers. Once the man had agreed to do so – even if he sounded slightly offended that his ruling was being questioned – Brookes had moved on to writing a new report for the generals who were part of the new high command structure. He needed their permission to pursue this as a serial killer rather than as three unconnected deaths.

He made mention of everything he had dug up so far that connected the victims, which was admittedly not that much. They were all military, all men, and all of them had a problem with Brigadier General Mustang in some way. He didn't want to put Mustang's name in the report at all, but he knew how much backlash the investigation – or lack thereof – into Second Lieutenant Maria Ross had garnered and he didn't want his investigation to suffer because he refused to put Mustang's name in the report based solely on the fact that he personally didn't believe the brigadier general had anything to do with the deaths.

After he'd submitted the report, he decided to take his own initiative and proceed as though the generals had given him permission and thought about what his next step should be. Reluctantly, he came to the conclusion that for now he needed to pursue the most obvious link that connected all three victims – Brigadier General Mustang. Sighing, he picked up his phone and dialed Mustang's office.

The line rang twice before being picked up. _"Brigadier General Mustang's office, this is Captain Hawkeye speaking. How may I assist you?"_

"Captain Hawkeye, this is Lieutenant Colonel Brookes with Investigations. If possible, I would like to schedule a meeting with the brigadier general to follow up with him on my investigation into the deaths of Captain Chase Bryce, Major Colin Pardi, and Colonel James Summers. Would he be available today? I don't believe I'll need more than an hour of his time."

"_One moment please while I check the general's schedule and request a meeting. Please hold."_

"Of course." He heard her set the receiver down on the desk and then there was silence for about two minutes.

"_Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, the brigadier general has informed me that he will be free in about an hour and he would be happy to meet with you before he goes to lunch. Would that be acceptable?"_

"That would be ideal, Captain. Please let the general know that I'll see him in one hour and give him my thanks."

The captain acknowledged his request and the call disconnected. Hanging up the phone, Brookes set to work. He prioritised the list of questions that he knew he would need to ask the brigadier general, sent Sheska down to the personnel archives to pull the files on all three victims and their complaints against the brigadier general to make sure he had all the facts straight, and set his team to work compiling all the information they'd been able to acquire. For the next half hour he ran down any leads he could from his office and checked in on his team's progress.

Once he'd passed the time he needed to, he left his office and headed for the upper levels of Central Command and the brigadier general's office. The walk was quiet and peaceful, just what he needed before meeting with Mustang. He wasn't ashamed to admit that the slightly older man made him nervous, mainly because he respected him and his abilities and he knew how his questions would likely be taken.

He knocked on the outer door before pushing it open. It seemed as if Mustang's entire staff was there and they all looked up as he entered. While they were all friendly and greeted him warmly, there was an undercurrent of tension in the room. He approached Captain Hawkeye's desk and she rose to her feet and offered him a respectful salute before she moved to the door to the general's private office. Rapping sharply on the door, she waited until he called for her to enter.

Moments later, she returned and indicated that he could enter. Brookes steeled his nerves and entered through the door. The general was sitting at his desk, reading a document. "Good afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes. Please, take a seat. I'll be with you in a moment," he directed without lifting his eyes from the paper in front of him.

Brookes took a seat on the same couch where he had the last time he'd been in this office, and a minute later Mustang was signing the paper with a flourish. "Captain Hawkeye?" he called.

She was at the door so promptly that Brookes almost wondered if she had been waiting for her name. "Yes, sir?"

"You may take these and see to it that they're distributed to the appropriate departments," Mustang told her, handing her the stack of papers he'd just been working on. "If Major General Andrews calls and asks where the requisition forms he was waiting on are, let him know that he'll have them within two hours."

"Yes sir." Hawkeye took the offered papers and left the office, closing the door as she exited.

Mustang stood and rounded his desk to take a seat on the opposite couch. "What do you need to know, Lieutenant Colonel?"

Brookes removed his notebook from his jacket pocket and flipped to a blank page. "I'm sure you've been notified about the deaths of Major Pardi and Colonel Summers by now?" Mustang nodded with a grim expression on his face. "My team has been digging for anything that could connect the two of them, but unfortunately the only things connecting their deaths are three simple facts: they were military officers, they were men, and they weren't fans of yours and were vocal about their dislike."

Mustang looked contemplatively at him for a moment. "I was aware that they weren't supporters of mine. As you said, they were vocal about it. However, it would be unrealistic to believe that I wouldn't have detractors, considering my age and my rank."

"I believe their deaths are connected, and I believe that Captain Bryce wasn't a victim of unfortunate circumstances, but rather the first victim," Brookes told him. Mustang didn't look shocked by this revelation and Brookes figured that the man had already deduced that for himself. "As you are one of the few things that link them – and not in a good way, I might add – I'd like to ask you a few questions about your whereabouts the nights they died. This is just a matter of me making sure that every lead has been run down and I'd like it so that when this case goes to trial the defense can't question why I never looked at you as a suspect."

The general looked slightly surprised at that. "You make it sound as though you believe that I'm not capable of these crimes," Mustang observed keenly.

Brookes hesitated for a moment, before he nodded. "While I believe that you may be _capable_ of committing these acts, considering what little I know about your alchemic specialty, I don't think that you actually _did_ commit them. I have no doubt, considering your service record, that if necessary you have the capability and willingness to kill to defend this country, but these crimes weren't done for the safety or security of the country, and I don't believe that you're the type of man who would do this."

Mustang looked at him for a long moment before sighing. "Thank you for your honesty, Brookes. Unfortunately, I don't have a good alibi for either of the nights in question. The night Pardi was killed I was home by myself working on some of my personal alchemic research. Last night I was also home by myself, but I couldn't sleep and went for a walk around the neighbourhood for an hour or so to clear my head. I'm not sure if anyone saw me, as it was late – maybe one or two in the morning."

Brookes made more notes in his notepad. "Do you know of anyone else who would have a reason to kill them?"

Mustang sighed again, although not in impatience. "No. I don't doubt that Bryce made a few enemies along the way with his attitude. We were posted to different areas after we graduated and I didn't see him again for several years. I do know that he wasn't well regarded among our academy class, but upon graduating I went straight into the State Alchemist program and was dispatched to Ishval a few months later. As for Pardi, I barely knew him. Technically he was within my chain of command, but I don't believe I've ever spoken to him. Führer Grumman and Major General Andrews were the ones who sent him out to Ishval, since I was recovering from the injuries that I had sustained on the Promised Day at the time, and he only recently returned from Ishval and I hadn't had a new mission for him yet. He could have made some enemies when he was posted out to Ishval to help with the rebuilding efforts, but from what I've heard they're more grateful for his help rebuilding their homes than they were annoyed or angered by his attitude."

"And Summers?" Brookes asked, still making notes.

Mustang shrugged. "Again, he wasn't within my circle of friends or acquaintances, and he wasn't in my direct chain of command. I don't think I ever met him, but from what I know of his complaints, it seemed that he was more annoyed by my age and my rank than any personal grievance that he could have held against me. I can't think of anything that I personally did to him that would have caused him to resent me. It's possible that with an attitude like that he likely had some people somewhere who would've wanted to see him dead – in our line of work and with his rank, why wouldn't he? – but I can't think of anyone other than myself who had a problem with all three men, and the conflict wasn't on my end. Bryce is the only one I personally disliked, and that was mostly because of his attitude and the way he treated women."

Brookes allowed a small look of disappointment to cross his face, before he sighed. "Alright. I'll check with your neighbours and some of those who live in your area. Maybe I'll be able to find someone who was up late last night when Summers died and saw you out walking." He closed his notebook as he stood, Mustang rising with him. "Thank you for your time, Brigadier General. Hopefully your connection to the victims turns out to be an unfortunate coincidence like I believe it to be." He offered his hand, which Mustang took.

"Thank you for your honesty and coming to speak to me in person, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes. I will ask one thing of you, however," Mustang said as he released Brookes' hand. "Follow this investigation where it leads you. I know I'm not the killer, and I'm glad you're in my corner, but if the evidence keeps leading you to me, don't fight it. That's what went wrong with the Hughes' investigation after Lieutenant Ross was accused. Everyone had made up their minds that she was guilty and they never allowed themselves to consider that there could've been someone else out there who was. The fact that you're investigating me along with other leads tells me that you're doing your job properly. I'm sure plenty of other people would have tried to go after me when my name first came up. Keep in mind that fighting a case when it leads to someone you don't consider a suspect is just as bad as forcing it to fit that person, despite the evidence."

For a moment when the general had begun speaking, Brookes had felt a touch of annoyance at being told how to do his job, but by the time the man had finished speaking, he felt the annoyance melt away under the intensely concerned gaze Mustang had him under. He could see why there were as many good rumors about the general's leadership abilities and reputation in caring for the soldiers under his command as there were bad ones about him being a womanizer and a sly politician who was only looking to climb the military ladder. He couldn't help but wonder if, despite what Mustang said about not being the killer was really true – could he be speaking like this in an effort to throw off the investigation? After a moment of consideration, he dismissed the thought.

"I will. You have my word, General."

"Thank you, Brookes. If there's nothing else that you need from me, you're dismissed."

Brookes saluted and nodded a goodbye before taking his leave from the office. He expressed a goodbye to Captain Hawkeye, but didn't fail to notice her slipping into the inner office before the outer office door had shut behind him.

As he walked back to his office, he couldn't help but hope that his words about this being an unfortunate coincidence were true. Mustang was right that the fact that his name kept coming up in connection with all three victims would be pounced on by anyone who had a personal or professional reason to get Mustang out of the way. After the Promised Day and the complete upheaval of the entire high command structure, Mustang didn't exactly have a shortage of people out for his blood.

He groaned as he continued down the corridor. This case was going to get complicated before too long, and he suspected that by the end of it he wouldn't be the only one with an ulcer.

**A/N- Here's the second chapter for everyone! I want to thank those who have already reviewed the story so far, including my guest reviewer who I can't pm to tell them how much I appreciate it. Just a heads up to everyone, this is going to be a long story. I haven't finished writing the future chapters but there's over 24 chapters so far. Please let me know what you think to the second chapter because I would absolutely love to hear from everyone!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

Brookes was neck-deep in the investigation into the deaths of Bryce, Pardi, and Summers when he got a phone call he'd been dreading for the past nine days. There was another body found burned in another alleyway behind a popular bar. Brookes sighed as he hung up the phone and headed for his car, gathering up his team and leaving behind only those who were following promising leads. The rest followed him to the car pool and as a group they headed for the latest crime scene.

"I wish I could say it's good to see you again, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes," one of the lieutenants who had been present at the last two crime scenes greeted as Brookes and his team piled out of their cars.

"Same here, Lieutenant," Brookes said blandly. "What do we have this time?"

"It's a bit different for you this time," the lieutenant said as they moved down the alley together. "The victim is Brigadier General Aleyce Henley. Her purse was found a few feet away from the body and undamaged."

"A woman?" Brookes asked, surprise evident in his voice as he stopped in his tracks. That _was_ different and if this was the same killer, he'd just broken pattern by targeting a female victim. If it wasn't the same killer, they would have a problem because that would mean they had a copycat on their hands.

"I knew her. Not personally, but professionally. There had been a lot of suspicion surrounding her ever since the Promised Day, but it had really intensified in the last few weeks," the lieutenant said.

"What about? I have to admit, I've been too busy with this case to listen to any gossip," Brookes admitted, and the lieutenant nodded understandingly.

"There were questions being asked about her loyalties during the Promised Day fiasco. There was some push from a few people to have her investigated and charged with treason against the people of Amestris, as it was believed that she'd known at least some – if not all – of the details about the Promised Day and never told anyone or tried to help in the fight on that day. In fact," the lieutenant paused as something seemed to occur to him, "I think it was Brigadier General Mustang who was the loudest voice among those demanding for her to be court-martialed. I know the Fullmetal Alchemist had expressed interest in finding out the truth as well, but the main driving force behind the pressure being placed on Führer Grumman to court-martial her was Mustang. There were even rumours that he'd already begun an investigation and was just waiting for the Führer to approve the warrants so she could be arrested, but those were just rumours. I don't know how much factual basis there is for that scenario."

"That makes sense. If she really had known and hadn't tried to tell anyone, Mustang and Elric would be two of the loudest people asking for her to be brought to justice for those events," Brookes said, even as his heart sank at another possible connection between Mustang and the victims. "They were two of the main players in that fight. If it could have been avoided by Henley speaking up about what she knew, I'm sure they would have preferred that to fighting," Brookes said and the lieutenant nodded in agreement.

The investigators had continued with their jobs, collecting evidence and taking statements while Brookes and the lieutenant had been talking. Brookes decided to speak with the man who'd been unfortunate enough to find Henley's burned remains and get his statement himself. Considering that this could be a copycat, he wanted to make sure he got every detail he could that would help him confirm or discard that possibility first hand. Unfortunately, like the ones who had discovered Bryce, Pardi, and Summers, he had simply been in the alley for a completely innocent reason – in this case, taking out some rubbish when he'd tripped over her purse. Upon bending down to pick the bag up to see who owned it, he'd noticed Henley's charred hand stretched out from behind some empty cardboard boxes.

Brookes sighed and directed his team to keep looking before heading back to the office. He sent Sheska to pull Henley's file from the personnel department, and sat down to add the information he'd collected at the scene to his master file on all of the victims. When Sheska brought the file a few minutes later, he set to work reading up on her record and making a note of her next of kin.

According to her file, Henley had been single and her parents had passed away long ago when a plague had broken out in their neighbourhood. Henley and her brother and sister had been spared because they had been visiting their grandparents in the countryside when the outbreak happened. Currently it seemed as though her brother had moved to South City, but her sister still resided in Central, so it was to her that Brookes left to break the bad news.

General Henley's sister, Tasha, was devastated by the news of her sister's death. Brookes stayed with her until she had calmed down enough to be coherent and was able to answer questions. Tasha Henley was aware of the suspicions surrounding her sister and the accusations being thrown her way, but she was adamant that her sister hadn't been involved. By the time his interview with her was over, there was little doubt in Brookes' mind that Mustang had been Brigadier General Henley's biggest threat. The man hadn't been letting up in his efforts to get her court-martialed and Tasha told Brookes that the pressure was starting to make Henley paranoid and stressed. General Henley was convinced that Mustang was out to get her for something she hadn't done and was starting to become increasingly unstable. She'd sworn to Tasha that she would get Mustang back for everything that her fellow general was doing and she hadn't been afraid to make her thoughts about Mustang known to anyone who would listen.

Brookes thanked Tasha Henley for her time, offered her his phone number and condolences before leaving and heading back to the office. After hearing Henley's story, he was convinced that this wasn't just a copycat, but that meant that there were now only two things that connected the victims: they were military and they had a problem with Brigadier General Mustang. The problem had increased in severity and Brookes knew that he wouldn't have any choice but to include the connection to Mustang in his next report to the high command.

After returning to the office, he contacted Brigadier General Mustang's office to request another meeting and was told to come up immediately. When he entered the outer office, the tension had increased significantly from his last visit, and he was let through immediately, before he'd even been able to get a "good afternoon" out. This time Captain Hawkeye followed him into the inner office and moved to flank her commanding officer on his right, standing as still as a statue.

"I gather you're here about Brigadier General Aleyce Henley's death?" Mustang asked, forgoing pleasantries this time around. Brookes didn't sit down either, instead remaining standing in front of the general's desk. All three of them were aware that with Henley's death, one of the connections between the victims had been destroyed: no longer were all the victims male.

"Yes, I am Brigadier General Mustang," Brookes said, his voice heavy. Mustang leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk, his fingers threaded together and placed against his lips for a moment. Hawkeye remained passive behind her commanding officer.

"What do you need to know?"

"I need to know where you were last night." Brookes had a nasty feeling he knew what Mustang was going to say.

"I was home at ten p.m. last night because I was in a meeting with Major General Andrews and Führer Grumman that ran late. I think the neighbour who lives in the house to the right of mine was outside with his dog when I came home. I didn't leave my house until six a.m. this morning, and I arrived at the main gates at six-thirty. Privates Lee and Jensen, who were manning the gate this morning, can verify my arrival time, and Captain Hawkeye can verify that I entered the office at six forty-five," Mustang told him, and Brookes slumped slightly as he was proven correct.

"So, no alibi?" Brookes asked, in a vain hope, and Mustang shook his head.

"Not unless one of my neighbours stayed up the entire night watching my house," Mustang sounded as annoyed as Brookes felt. Brookes sighed, but made a note of it on his pad.

"I've been told that there have been accusations made against Henley; accusations that you and Major Elric have been rather vocal about. Would you mind telling me why you believed Henley to have been agreeable with the late Führer Bradley's plans?" Brookes asked, hoping this angle would lead to more suspects. He almost hoped that this would pan out and it would turn out that Henley _was_ a copycat so that the 'male' connection could be ruled back in.

"I believe – as does Fullmetal and many other military officers – that Brigadier General Henley was aware of some, if not all, of the late Führer's plans. Or as much as he'd told the generals who had backed him, anyway. We believe she had been a silent supporter of Bradley's, perhaps promised the same things as the generals had been in order to secure her support and her silence. Unusually for someone of her rank, at the time of his death and for a year prior, Henley had been Lieutenant General Raven's personal aide, and she was only promoted to Brigadier General in order to fill one of the vacancies left by the deaths or arrests of so many of Bradley's administration. As I'm sure you're aware, it's unusual for someone to be in the position of personal aide once they've reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and Henley was a full Colonel at the time of the Promised Day."

Brookes nodded and continued to make notes. What General Mustang was saying was true – it was very rare for an officer who had attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel to not have at least a small team of their own, and almost completely unheard of for someone who had achieved the rank of Colonel. The only exceptions that Brookes could think of were actually among the State Alchemists – since so many of them worked independently out in the field, they had little need for a full team of their own – only those who were strictly researchers tended to have teams, but they were teams of other alchemists or research assistants, not soldiers.

"We believe that she either accidentally uncovered or was purposefully made aware of the Promised Day and did nothing to alert anyone about what was planned. Of course, that would mean she was either complicit in – or at the very least – had been agreeable enough with the plans to keep them quiet. If she hadn't been involved in or supportive of those plans, she would have found a way to contact myself or one of the numerous other officers whose beliefs aligned with my own," Mustang concluded.

Brookes was shocked. When the Promised Day had arrived, he had been one of the ones to align himself with Mustang, especially after Mrs. Bradley's radio broadcast had gone on air. Blinking, he quickly made notes of what the general was saying, pressing his pen into the page with enough force that his hand began to cramp.

"Henley was very upset when Lieutenant General Armstrong replaced Raven in the Führer's inner group. It was an interesting reaction from Henley because at the time, she wasn't being considered as a replacement for any of the generals despite the fact that she was a full colonel."

"Is it just possible that she was upset because General Armstrong was the one who killed Raven?" Brookes asked. It hadn't taken long for _that_ piece of gossip to circulate through Central Command, considering that Armstrong had been devoted to manning the fortress of Briggs for over a decade and hadn't seemed to care about the goings-on in Central. Her sudden transfer to Central Command and almost immediate ascension to Raven's position within the inner circle had spurred several weeks' worth of gossip among those stationed in Central.

Mustang shook his head. "No. Her reaction wasn't one of anger, and she never accused General Armstrong of lying about her reasons for killing Raven. It was more like she had lost something important when he died – if she _did_ know about the Promised Day, I suspect that Raven was her access to the promises that Bradley had made to his inner circle. Without Raven, Henley wasn't even being considered to be part of that inner circle. Everybody knew that Henley wouldn't have been the _last_ choice, but she certainly wasn't one of the top choices. Even she knew that. Her reaction alone was suspicious enough for me to start looking into her," Mustang continued.

Brookes found himself almost leaning in to hang onto Mustang's every word before remembering himself and writing once more. "Of course, once the Promised Day was close to being upon us, I couldn't focus on investigating her any further. However, once it was over and after everyone, including myself, had had a chance to recuperate from the wounds we'd received during the fighting, I was able to focus on it once more," Mustang continued.

"Was this before or after your first classified mission with Major Elric?" Brookes asked.

"Before the first one." Mustang didn't bother asking how he knew about it. The missions themselves were classified, not the fact that they went on them, after all. "I resumed my investigation into General Henley about two weeks after the Promised Day, since I spent a week in the hospital and then another week helping to begin the restoration along with General Armstrong until Führer Grumman officially assumed command."

"Did you find anything to support your claims?" Brookes asked and Mustang sighed and glanced down at the top of his desk. He was obviously debating what to say. Brookes glanced at Hawkeye, wondering what she knew about all of this; her face was still expressionless, until he looked into her eyes. Clearly, she knew something about her commander's investigation.

"Yes." Mustang finally said. "We found correspondence between her and General Raven while we were going through his paperwork and files during the cleanup of Central Command. It was coded, however. Fortunately, it wasn't difficult for Fullmetal to break the code and decipher the letters. On their own, they weren't enough to get charges brought against her, but they would have been more than enough to get a warrant for a further search of her office, home, and other assets. If we'd been given a little more time, we could have laid charges against her and had her court-martialed. However, I'd prefer not to speak any more about this, Lieutenant Colonel, as my aim is not to speak ill of the dead, and there's nothing further that we can do to her."

"Fair enough," Brookes agreed. "Were you able to find anyone else during your investigation that might have had a reason to want Henley dead?"

"I'm sure plenty of people wished to see her dead, especially once the news that we were investigating her for her involvement broke. A lot of people were affected by the Promised Day, and even though my team's goal was to avoid killing wherever possible, the Briggs soldiers and the forces that put their loyalty behind Bradley weren't quite so noble. I wasn't the only one who believed that she should have been charged. If she had said something to someone there would probably be many more people who would have survived that day." The general's voice was terse, but Brookes didn't take it personally.

"Okay. There's one more thing I'd like to ask about while I'm here." Mustang nodded and gestured for him to do so. "Would Major Elric be available for an interview?"

Mustang obviously hadn't expected that question. "Why would you need to talk to Fullmetal?"

"Aside from you, he was the most vocal about Brigadier General Henley being investigated. I will need to interview him for my report, if only to eliminate him as a potential suspect for the purpose of assembling my case files," Brookes explained.

Mustang looked at Hawkeye, who nodded and left the room. "Captain Hawkeye will have an answer for you by the time you leave this office." Brookes believed him, since Hawkeye seemed very efficient like that. "Was there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, sir. That's all I needed to ask you. I apologise for having to ask these questions, but I want to thank you for allowing these informal interviews," Brookes said, but Mustang waved his thanks away.

"I understand you're just doing your job. I'm just glad you're doing it properly. I trust you know that any interview with Fullmetal will be done in this office. I'll wait outside with the others, but I do need to speak with him once you're done. It will lessen his complaining if he doesn't have to travel from your office to here."

"I had expected as much. I'll see myself out. Have a good day, General." Brookes saluted and the older officer offered his own well-wishes as Brookes left.

"Major Elric can be here at lunchtime tomorrow, Lieutenant Colonel. Is that acceptable?" Captain Hawkeye asked with the receiver to the phone still held to her ear.

"Yes, that works nicely for me," Brookes agreed.

"Did you hear that, Edward?" Hawkeye asked the person on the other end of the line. "Alright. We'll see you at lunchtime tomorrow. Please don't be late." She paused for a moment. "Thank you, Edward. Good-bye." She hung up the phone.

"Thank you, Captain."

She nodded silently in response, and Brookes left the office quickly and headed back to his office. He needed to write up the information Mustang had just given him before his interview tomorrow.

* * *

The next day, just before lunch, he received a call from Captain Hawkeye informing him that Major Elric had arrived at the office and was waiting to meet with him. Brookes thanked her and informed her that he was on his way. It only took him a few minutes before he was pushing the doors open and greeting the rest of Mustang's team.

"You may go in, Lieutenant Colonel," Hawkeye told him.

He took her at her word and entered the inner office where Mustang was doing paperwork at his desk and a blond teenager wearing a bright red coat was sprawled on one of the couches reading a thick alchemy book. Brookes cleared his throat and saluted before greeting the brigadier general first and then the major, as protocol dictated.

Elric looked bored and annoyed and didn't look up from his book. "It's Ed, Edward, or Fullmetal. Unlike some flame alchemists I could, but won't name, I don't give two fucks about my rank. Why am I here?"

Mustang looked both resigned and like he wanted to strangle the teen alchemist. It was an interesting expression.

"I need to ask you a few questions about Brigadier General Aleyce Henley," Brookes explained. "You were one of the loudest voices calling for her to be arrested, so I need to speak with you about what you know about her."

Ed sighed and put his book down, twisting until he was sitting upright. "What about her? She's dead, right?" Ed looked at Mustang, who nodded, and then looked back to Brookes. "Why am I being questioned about that paranoid bitch?"

Mustang looked like he was going to say something before shaking his head and giving Brookes a look that told him he was on his own before the older alchemist gathered his finished paperwork and stood. "I'll wait outside with the rest of the team until the two of you are done." He pointed a finger at Ed. "You stay here. I need to talk with you afterwards." Ed rolled his eyes at Mustang as he left, the door shutting softly behind him.

Brookes cleared his throat and took a seat across from Edward, pulling out his notepad and pen. "As I explained to Brigadier General Mustang yesterday, this is merely me making sure that I can't give the defense any sort of ammunition to give a jury reasonable doubt. If I can't say that I didn't rule out everyone who had a reason to wish Henley dead, then they would have the opportunity to cast doubt on whomever we arrest by saying that someone else had a motive for killing her. Since I believe these murders were all committed by the same person, if the defense can cast doubt on Henley's case, it would mean doubt would be cast on all of the murders."

Edward rolled his eyes. "I didn't want Henley dead; I wanted her in jail, but whatever. Ask whatever you gotta." He pushed himself a little more upright.

"Thank you, Major." Ed shot him a warning look and Brookes got the message. "All I need from you is to tell me where you were the night Henley died and to read over and add anything you deem necessary to Brigadier General Mustang's statement on the reasons you suspected Brigadier General Henley was involved in – or at least unopposed to – the plans for the Promised Day." Brookes produced his typed report from yesterday and handed it to him. "If you agree with General Mustang's statement as I've recorded it here, just sign the bottom. If there are any details that you think should be added, I'll type them up and find you again at a later date to sign it."

Edward took the report and read it. Less than a minute later he got up from the couch, snatched a pen from Mustang's desk, and signed the paper. He held the paper out for Brookes to take. "There's nothing that needs to be added to it. I wasn't involved in Mustang's investigation before the Promised Day. I was too busy trying not to die after my fight with that psychotic alchemist, Kimblee, at Baschool." Brookes almost wanted to ask, but Edward didn't give him a chance to decide whether he was going to. "The murder was three nights ago, right?"

"Two nights ago, M-Fullmetal," Brookes remembered to correct himself before he accidentally used the blonde's military rank, but barely. Edward's golden eyes narrowed dangerously, but he allowed the almost-slip.

"Whatever. I was at Gracia Hughes' apartment. My brother and I live there when we're not on missions for Mustang. Alphonse and Miss Gracia will be able to tell you that I was there from about seven pm when I got back from picking up some ingredients that Miss Gracia needed for dinner until about ten the next morning when Al and I went out to research some shit at the library."

Brookes almost wrote that down verbatim, just so he could submit it to the generals who were pressuring him for an updated report, but he decided to clean up the wording a bit, as the generals weren't known for their sense of humour. "Okay. Is there a number I can reach them at?"

Edward gave it and Brookes thanked him. The teen alchemist shrugged. "Don't mention it. Just don't talk to Elysia Hughes by yourself, if you turn up at the apartment."

Brookes heard the subtle threat hidden under the warning and nodded. "I don't believe I'll need to go by their apartment at this time, but I'll keep that in mind if anything changes," he promised. Ed nodded sharply as Brookes stood and extended a hand toward the blond. Ed shook it and Brookes felt the hard metal as he wrapped his fingers around Ed's hand before letting go. "Thank you for your time, Fullmetal."

"Don't worry about it," Ed said as he flopped back onto the couch and picked up his book once more, opening it to the marked page. Brookes couldn't help but notice that the teen's golden eyes seemed slightly vacant, like he wasn't really reading the book, but was lost in thought or something.

Brookes left the office. Mustang and the others were watching him with interest and he thought he saw a handful of cenz notes being given to the portly man with reddish hair while the one with the cigarette in his mouth muttered something unhappily.

"Thank you for the use of your office, General. Have a good day, everyone." He smiled before leaving. He made it halfway to his own office before he stopped in his tracks as he thought of something and changed his course abruptly, heading back to the stairs leading to the upper levels of Central Command.

* * *

He ended up in front of Führer Grumman's secretary, a pretty, if unimpressed-looking lady in her early thirties only a few minutes later. Or maybe she just looked unimpressed because of his request.

"You want me to ask Führer Grumman if he _happens_ to have fifteen minutes to spare so you can _chat_ with him?" she asked incredulously.

Brookes nodded. "Yes, please. I'd like to talk to him about Brigadier General Mustang and the recent string of murders that have taken place," he said politely. She huffed a sigh and picked up the phone to dial his office. "Thank you."

She shot him a flat look. "Don't hold your breath," she warned before the phone clicked and a muffled voice sounded on the other end. "Your Excellency. Forgive my interruption, but there's a Lieutenant Colonel Charlie Brookes requesting fifteen minutes of your time for a discussion regarding Brigadier General Mustang and the recent murders, sir." She paused as she listened to the response and a look of surprise on her face had him feeling hopeful. "Yes, sir. Right away."

She hung up the phone and stood up. "Looks like you're in luck, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes. Führer Grumman will see you now." She led him to the doors before opening one and standing aside for him to enter. He took one step past the arc of the door and paused to salute as she pulled the door shut again with an echoing _click_.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes?" Grumman stood from behind his desk and waved him forward. He offered a hand that Brookes grasped as soon as he'd crossed the space between the doors and the desk.

"Yes, Your Excellency. Thank you for agreeing to speak with me. I know how busy you are, and I appreciate the chance." Grumman waved at one of the chairs in front of the desk, reclaiming his own seat. Brookes waited until the Führer was seated before taking one of the offered seats.

"You got lucky. My last meeting ended up being shorter than it was scheduled to be. I have twenty minutes I can give you until my next appointment. What can I help you with?"

"I'm sure that you've been briefed on the murders that have happened recently." Grumman nodded, a grim expression on his face. "What we haven't made public yet is that we believe Captain Chase Bryce to have been the first victim, leaving the citizens to believe his death has been ruled accidental. Our hope is that once we have a suspect, he will give himself away by revealing Bryce as their first victim, which is information only the real killer would know, along with a few other small details we've kept from the public."

"Wise plan. You've set the bait and now you just need a fish to take it," Grumman said.

"That's our hope, sir. The other thing we haven't made public is that Brigadier General Mustang is the only solid connection and suspect we have in all four cases so far, sir. He has had problems ranging from inconsequential to personal to professional with each victim and each problem _could_ be considered a motive for the crime. I have informally interviewed General Mustang about all four murders and Major Elric about the death of Brigadier General Aleyce Henley, as they were the loudest voices calling for her to be investigated. Major Elric has provided an alibi for the night in question, which I intend to verify as soon as we are done here. Unfortunately for Brigadier General Mustang, he has no good alibi for any of the nights when the murders occurred."

Grumman sighed. "I've been following this case since Colonel Summers was murdered, and I had been told about Brigadier General Mustang's connection to all the victims. I've studied your previous cases with Investigations, both before and after your change in positions since the late Maes Hughes. I have found your work to be exemplary, Brookes. You appear to be a dedicated investigator and you've never let personal bias, public opinion, or even peer pressures sway you from where a case has led you. That was one of the reasons why I kept you in your position when we were cleaning house after the Promised Day. What do your instincts tell you when it comes to this investigation?" He rested his chin on his thumbs, fingers threaded together as he watched Brookes contemplatively.

Brookes considered it for another moment in light of what Major Elric had told him. "I believe Brigadier General Mustang is being framed, sir. I don't know by whom, or why, but he doesn't strike me as the kind of person to go after someone because they had an argument the night before, or because they were outspoken about their dislike for him, and I certainly don't believe he'd go after someone for those reasons in this way."

Grumman nodded in agreement. "I believe you're correct Brookes. As you surely know, thanks to your investigation, Mustang used to be under my command while he was in East City."

Brookes nodded. "I learned that when I pulled the general's service file to look for any reported conflicts he might have had with Colonel Summers, sir."

"Well, I got to know him while he was there, perhaps a little better than others in my command thanks to the fact that my granddaughter is his second in command. I know what he is capable of. I know what he did in Ishval, and what he has done to climb the military ladder. I've even encouraged and shared what I know about playing the political game with him over the years. I know what he would do to make sure he didn't lose his position on that ladder." The Führer's eyes hardened. "I do not believe he committed these acts. I do not believe he is the kind of man who would do this sort of thing, as I've always seen him as honourable. He wouldn't attack someone in an alley behind a bar – he would face them openly, and he would be merciful and give them a quick death if he was forced to kill at all. I most adamantly do not believe he would murder a woman for the crimes he was about to charge her with."

Grumman's voice held complete conviction and Brookes was glad to hear it. Having the Führer on his side would help Mustang. But then Brookes hesitated for a moment, obviously holding himself back from saying something.

"Is there something else, Brookes?" Grumman had obviously noticed and Brookes looked around uncertainly. "You can speak freely here, Lieutenant Colonel."

"I think the generals in the high command will want Mustang arrested, sir. I've had to include the connection to Mustang in all of my reports and the report I submitted to have these cases classified as the work of a serial killer. While they haven't said anything to me, I believe that there is a possibility that they will plan to push to have you authorise Mustang's arrest for these crimes. They started getting agitated when I gave them my most recent report on Summers and the preliminary report on Henley yesterday. I think they are afraid that if the brigadier general was about to file charges against Henley for her role in the Promised Day then he might come after them next. I have another meeting with them tomorrow to give them my updated report on the case, and I believe they will start putting pressure on me to have Mustang formally interviewed, if nothing else."

"You will undoubtedly be proven right. I can't do much to help with that, Lieutenant Colonel. If you start receiving pressure from them, however, remind the generals that they still need _me_ to sign off on an arrest warrant. I can tell you that I trust you won't request an arrest warrant unless you have no other choice. The generals may be the ones you report to, but it is _your_ case, not theirs. You and the generals cannot arrest someone without probable cause and any arrest made with circumstantial evidence must be served with a warrant personally signed and sealed by me." Grumman leaned back. "I'm sure I don't have to remind you of that, but it doesn't hurt to hear it from someone else, does it?"

Brookes gave a humourless chuckle but felt as if a massive weight had been lifted off of him. "You're correct sir."

Grumman checked the handsome wooden mantle clock on his desk and stood from his chair, a clear sign that Brookes was to follow suit. "I trust that you'll follow this investigation through, no matter where it leads you."

He gave the Führer a wry smile. "Actually, sir, Brigadier General Mustang already made me promise to do just that." He extended his hand, any tiny trace of humour gone. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, sir. I'll take my leave now. Have a good day." Once Grumman released his hand, Brookes snapped a salute before Grumman released him from it.

"You too, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes. Good luck with your investigation," Grumman said and Brookes bowed his head in a respectful nod. He was going to need all the luck he could get. He started to turn for the door when Grumman called to him again and he stopped immediately.

"Brookes. Know that you have my permission to interrupt me any time of the day or night in regards to this investigation. I'll alert Samantha that you're to be admitted immediately if you need to see me."

"Thank you, sir."

* * *

_The next day…_

Brookes watched as the generals read the report he'd placed in front of them. Major Elric's alibi had checked out like Brookes had expected, but it was included in the preliminary report he had submitted. The generals finished reading his report and looked at him, faces either neutral or annoyed, depending on who it was that he was looking at.

"Why haven't you formally pulled Brigadier General Mustang down to the Investigations offices for an interview yet? It's obvious that he's the only substantial link between these victims and the only viable suspect," General Combes demanded.

Brookes stood at attention and didn't allow himself to twitch at the general's annoyance. "As I indicated in my report, sir, the only evidence we have linking these victims is circumstantial at best. Any half-decent lawyer would take a look at the evidence and have the case thrown out before it got to a trial."

"Who else could set their victims on fire and had a personal vendetta against them?" General Widdon asked before Combes could do more than snarl.

"As the report states. sir, the coroner hasn't had any test results come in yet. Imagine how quickly the case would get thrown out and discredited if a trace of some sort of accelerant or igniter was found on the victims. All they'd have to ask is 'why would an alchemist renowned for his flame alchemy need an accelerant to ignite fire?' and the case would be dismissed." Brookes replied.

"But that could just be Mustang attempting to throw us off his trail! It's obvious this is him!" Combes bellowed.

"General, based on what my team and I have been able to uncover, it was the victims who had problems with Brigadier General Mustang, not the other way around. The only one that Brigadier General Mustang has displayed open hostility with was Brigadier General Henley, and he was working on investigating her in preparation to file charges against her. He had no reason to kill her when he was about to have her court-martialed for treason." Brookes stated and Combes scoffed. "Furthermore, all his defense attorney would have to do is argue that Brigadier General Mustang has an admirer who believes that taking out potential threats or enemies and making the murders look like flame alchemy is the best way to impress him. Or they could argue that Mustang has an enemy who is using his alchemy to frame him, since he is the only flame alchemist in the country."

"I thought you worked for us, not the defense," Combes spat.

"With all due respect, sir," Brookes said, keeping his voice cool and calm. "It is my job to investigate a case wherever it takes me, as well as to think like the defense so that I can ensure that they don't have a case by the time we take it to trial. With the time and effort we've already put into preparing this case, it would be a shame to have it thrown out on a technicality because we overlooked the real killer by focusing only on the obvious links."

The generals muttered and Brookes knew he might have pushed the line a little too close towards insubordination. He stood at perfect attention while they had a quiet and quick discussion amongst themselves.

"Very well, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes. You're dismissed," General Smythe said. Brookes saluted before leaving as quickly as he dared. He wished he could give Mustang and Grumman some kind of heads up since the generals weren't as quiet or subtle as they thought they were. He knew that Combes and Widdon at least, were going to go to the Führer as soon as the opportunity presented itself with the goal of trying to twist Brookes' arm into making an arrest.

He felt a childish hope that the real killer would make himself known with a full confession and sighed when he reminded himself that this wasn't how things worked. He just had to trust that the truth would be uncovered before Mustang suffered for it.

* * *

It had barely been four days since Henley's body had been discovered and here he was, in another alleyway, looking down on another burned corpse dressed in the charred remains of a military uniform. Brookes wanted to groan – this case was going to give him an ulcer before it was all over – he could feel it.

"Identification?" he asked, a little more snappishly than necessary. The warrant officer who had been the acting officer in charge until Brookes arrived swallowed nervously and jumped.

"The coroner isn't here yet, sir. We can't check for a wallet yet." He sounded as if he was one harsh sentence away from being reduced to stuttering. Brooke sighed and the warrant officer flinched.

"Alright. Not your fault. We'll just wait for the coroner to get on scene. What else can you tell me?"

The warrant officer seemed to relax now that he knew he wasn't going to be blamed for not knowing the victim's identity. "He was discovered at three-thirty this afternoon, sir. This particular establishment doesn't close its doors until five in the morning, but the owner sent his staff home before clean-up last night because they'd been open later than usual due to an influx of late-night customers. He and two other workers had come in early today to clean and get the place ready to open. One of his workers had come out here to dispose of some rubbish and made the discovery. Poor bastard threw up his lunch over there before heading inside to tell his boss."

Brookes didn't blame the worker. He'd wanted to throw up the first time he'd seen Bryce's body.

The coroner turned up a few minutes later and was quick to hand over the dead man's wallet. When Brookes saw the man's name, he shut his eyes and took a deep, slow breath. The dead man was Major General Bernard Andrews. He was Brigadier General Mustang's direct commanding officer and the head of the entire State Alchemist program, answering only to the Führer. It was no secret among the military that should something happen to Andrews or when he chose to take retirement, Mustang would be the first person chosen to replace him.

He knew the moment he submitted this report to the generals they would be swarming Führer Grumman for an arrest warrant. He bagged the wallet and excused himself before heading to the office to contact Andrews' next of kin was so he could make the death notification.

And hang any appearance of impropriety. This murder convinced him even more that Mustang was not to blame for these attacks, since by all accounts Andrews and Mustang liked and respected each other. There were no personality conflicts between them that Brookes knew of. He was going to call Mustang and inform him of the Major General's death before the other generals heard about it.

* * *

"Thank you for telling me," Mustang said before the man on the other end of the line could hang up. Mustang disconnected the call and put the phone down, before running a hand through his hair. He heard someone enter his office and looked up to see Hawkeye standing in front of his desk. "Major General Andrews has just been found murdered in an alleyway behind a bar he liked to frequent – burned."

He heard Hawkeye's slight gasp at the news. Andrews had been a good man. He had been one of the rare higher-ups in the military who hadn't acted like his rank meant he was smarter or better than any lower ranked officer. He even got along well with Edward whenever the two were in the same room together; not minding the blond's blunt attitude. He'd called it 'refreshing' when Mustang had asked once. Andrews was also one of the only people – other than Mustang himself – whom Edward would willingly take orders from.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes?" Hawkeye asked, and Mustang leaned forward over his desk and rested his face in his palms for a moment before scrubbing at his face with his palms and raising his head to look at his captain.

"He just called to break the news and give me a warning. The rest of the generals who view me as a threat to their power were becoming agitated after Henley was found, demanding I be hauled in for official questioning. With Andrews dead, I will be. No doubt they'll try to spin this as an attempt for me to angle for his position since there was no bad blood between us. I don't think it's a coincidence that these five victims have been people who have had problems with me or that they've been killed on nights when I have no alibi." He rose and went to look out the window next to his desk. "It seems he was right," he added, more to himself.

"Sir?"

"Fullmetal said something when we found out about Pardi's death. He'd thought that Bryce was connected to it since fire-related deaths are unusual enough, but two men killed in an alleyway by being burned alive was definitely out of the norm. I dismissed his concerns, telling him the investigators would've connected the deaths if there was any evidence linking them."

"But it stuck in your mind, didn't it?" Hawkeye asked though they both knew the answer.

"Yes, and it crossed my mind that I would more than likely be a suspect, if only because of the manner in which they died. I am the Flame Alchemist, after all. The fact that the people who have died were either annoyances, enemies, or rivals of mine – save for Andrews – doesn't help. Either someone out there thinks they're helping me rid Amestris of potential enemies or people who have an issue with me, or…"

"Or you're being framed." Hawkeye finished and Mustang nodded. "Do you want me to start making preparations for our contingency plan in case something happens, sir?"

"Yes. Contact Kenneth Lanco. Tell him I might be calling in my favor shortly. Give him the short version of events and ask him to stay on standby. Tell the rest of the team as well."

She snapped a salute and left his office immediately.

* * *

Grumman had barely hung up his phone from speaking with Lieutenant Colonel Brookes about the death of Major General Andrews when his secretary called to say that Brigadier General Combes and Brigadier General Widdon were requesting an interview. He thanked her and told her to send them in, and then spent the few moments he had trying to make sure he was as calm as possible and that no trace of grief showed on his face.

He'd served with Andrews for a long time, and they'd remained in touch and good friends even after Lieutenant General Raven and the late Führer Bradley had all but demoted him and transferred him out to East City. He allowed himself one moment to grieve the loss of his friend before his secretary was opening his doors and closing them behind the two generals who stormed into his office, pausing to make only the most cursory of salutes.

"May I help you, Generals?" Grumman asked, staying seated as he watched the men move to stand in front of his desk, glaring down at him.

"We'd like your cooperation regarding the serial killings, Excellency," Combes ground out, placing an official document on his desk. Grumman raised a brow at the men. He knew he wasn't entirely popular with some of the generals under his command, particularly the ones who had attained their ranks under Bradley, and he knew that his blatant support of Mustang didn't help matters. "We have an arrest warrant here for your signature."

"And who is it that you are planning to arrest, General Combes?"

"Brigadier General Mustang, on five counts of murder."

Grumman picked up the arrest warrant and looked it over before setting it down firmly on the corner of his desk. "No."

"Sir, we have evidence –" Widdon tried before Grumman held up a hand to stop him.

"I believe you are under the impression that I am not up to date with the technical aspects of the case, so let me stop you right there. I know there is _circumstantial_ evidence which points to Brigadier General Mustang being the only viable suspect. I also know that this circumstantial evidence would be easily countered during court-martial proceedings, and this case would end before the opening arguments were even finished," Grumman told them, pinning them with a stern gaze.

"Excellency, we are aware of your personal thoughts about Brigadier General Mustang, and we must request that you look past them to see the truth. Brigadier General Mustang is the only person who could have done this. Arresting him would not only save lives, but it would put the public at ease, sir." General Widdon tried to argue.

Grumman could see the blackmail attempt in between his words. "Let me ask you this, General Widdon. If the evidence in this case pointed to anyone else – General Combes, for example – would you be pushing this hard for an arrest on evidence this flimsy and present a case this full of holes to a court-martial where any defense lawyer would win the case in their sleep?"

General Widdon stuttered for a moment and Grumman nodded. "That's what I thought. However," he held up a finger as they leaned forward slightly. "You may formally _interview_ Brigadier General Mustang in connection to these cases, so long as Lieutenant Colonel Brookes is present at the interview. Unless an eye witness or actual physical evidence is brought to light, Brigadier General Mustang will not be arrested," he stated firmly, throwing them a bone so they would hopefully ease off of Lieutenant Colonel Brookes a little. The men were obviously dissatisfied with what they were given, but knew they wouldn't win this round.

"Thank you Führer Grumman, sir." Widdon managed to say without it sounding like a hardship.

"You're dismissed, Generals." They turned to leave and were halfway to the door when Grumman called to stop them. "I'd like to remind you of something you've apparently forgotten. Any suspect of a crime, no matter their rank or standing, is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law and the two of you – and the other generals, for that matter – are _not_ that court of law."

Grumman gestured for the seething men to leave, although he thought the slamming of the door was a little childish.

* * *

It was less than three hours after his discussion with Hawkeye that his inner office door was thrown open and two generals and Brookes walked through, Hawkeye immediately on their six. Brookes gave him an apologetic grimace, while the generals looked smug.

Mustang rose slowly to his feet, keeping his hands in clear sight and braced against the top of his desk. "General Combes, General Widdon, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Brigadier General Mustang, you will be coming with us for questioning regarding the suspicious deaths of Captain Chase Bryce, Major Colin Pardi, Colonel James Summers, Brigadier General Aleyce Henley, and Major General Bernard Andrews. Will you do this voluntarily?" Combes asked, eyes twinkling like he hoped Mustang would be foolish enough to make this difficult.

"Of course," Mustang said, stepping around his desk to where Hawkeye had already retrieved his black top coat and allowing her to help him into it, the medals on his blue uniform jacket clinking lightly against each other. He reached into the inner pocket of his coat and removed his plain, ordinary dress gloves, sliding them on. "Captain Hawkeye, would you be good enough to contact the Führer and anyone else I had a meeting scheduled with today and let them know that I've been asked to give a statement regarding the serial killer? Ask them if we can reschedule at their earliest convenience." He accepted his hat from Hawkeye, walked past the generals and Brookes and into the outer office, leaving the three men to follow him or be left behind.

"Of course, sir. I'm sure the Führer will want to speak to you as soon as you've finished giving your statement. I shall remain in the office until you're done to let you know." Hawkeye stated easily and Mustang nodded. His other team members looked a mixture of anxious, concerned, and worried on his behalf and he made a sign for them to stay put.

"After you, gentlemen," Mustang said, eyeing them. He could tell that his cooperative and agreeable attitude was making them grind their teeth in annoyance. He wasn't an idiot. He knew how some of Bradley's commanders and generals had viewed his recent promotion to Brigadier General. He paused at the outer door. "Oh, and Captain, Fullmetal will be dropping by sometime today with some paperwork he needed to complete for me regarding his last few missions." he stated before turning and following the patiently waiting Brookes and the not-so-patient generals.

* * *

The moment the door closed behind the group, Hawkeye was on the phone, dialing Gracia's home and waiting for someone to answer it as she glared at the rest of the team to get back to work. The phone clicked as someone picked it up. "Edward?"

"_Captain Hawkeye?"_ The teen alchemist sounded confused.

"I need you to come into the office today. As soon as you can get here."

"_Al and I are watching Elysia today for Miss Gracia, but I'll be there as soon as I can. Does Mustang have a new mission for me?"_

"I'll explain when you get here. As quickly as you can, Edward."

"_Sure." _He hung up the phone, but not before she heard him call out to Alphonse. She placed the phone back in its cradle and got back to her own work until Edward arrived. He would need to be brought up to speed and warned to prepare to help investigate these deaths if Mustang was arrested in relation to them. She rubbed her temples as she moved on to the first set of orders Mustang had given as he walked out and starting calling anyone he had a meeting scheduled with today. She couldn't help but feel as if things were going to take a turn for the worse before long.

**A/N - Here's chapter 3 for you all! Just an PSA but the chapters are gonna get longer from here on out. Upwards of 10,000+ words, with some of them being more than 15,000+ words. Thank you to everyone who has left a review on the last chapter and the story as a whole so far! To the lovely guest reviewers who I can't privately message: GuestP - I'm glad you like Brookes! and Guest- you're just gonna have to wait to find out ;) **

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you thought? I would adore reviews from you all! Until next week!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"_Edward_?"

"Captain Hawkeye?" Edward hadn't been expecting a call from the office that day. He'd seen Mustang two days ago and the bastard hadn't said anything about an upcoming mission; if anything, he'd indicated that he wasn't planning on sending Ed out of Central any time soon, so Ed had welcomed the chance to take a long break and work on his research. Of course, some sort of emergency mission could have come up – that was part of life in the military, after all.

"_I need you to come into the office today. As soon as you can get here." _Edward frowned a little at the tension he could hear in the captain's voice. She didn't quite sound like herself – if anything she sounded worried.

"Al and I are watching Elysia today for Miss Gracia, but I'll be there as soon as I can. Does Mustang have a new mission for me?"

"_I'll explain when you get here. As quickly as you can, Edward."_

"Sure." He put the phone back in its cradle. "Al? Hey, Al, where are you?"

"In Elysia's room!" He heard his brother call back. Ed headed down the hallway and found them playing with some dolls Edward had transmuted for her while Al was still in the hospital. They were babysitting her for the day while Gracia was working since Elysia's school had a pupil-free day, much to the five-year-old's delight.

"Who was on the phone, Brother?" Al asked once he spotted Ed standing in the doorway. Ed couldn't hide the grin at the pink, sparkly tiara tilted precariously on his brother's head.

"That's a good look for you, Al." Al stuck his tongue out at his brother while Elysia squealed in delight that someone else shared her opinion about Al's headgear. "It was Captain Hawkeye. She wants me to come to the office ASAP for some reason."

"To visit Uncle Roy?" Elysia asked excitedly.

"I don't know, Elysia. I think so. Maybe he has another mission for me," Ed said, giving the girl a smile when she groaned at the thought of him going away again.

"Can I come? I wanna see Uncle Roy and Miss Riza and Mr. Havoc and Mr. Fuery…" Elysia continued to name the team while Al sent Ed a look that clearly asked if he really believed it was another mission.

Ed shrugged. He honestly didn't know. The way Hawkeye had sounded on the phone – terse and unwilling to provide details – wasn't like her. Usually she was open about saying that Mustang had a mission for him, if only so that he couldn't wiggle out of coming to check in or bring in his most recent report. But today…her tone just made him think that either Mustang was in trouble with her, or in trouble with someone else. Either was equally likely, because it was Mustang they were talking about, but the second option made him think of his recent interview with Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and he couldn't help but wonder if the two were connected.

"_**Is something wrong, cub?"**_Black's voice purred in his head, the tone worried. Along with her voiced concern he could feel the joint concern of the other four Lions pressing in on his mind, although they seemed content to let Black be the one to speak for them.

"_**I'm not sure,"**_ he admitted. **"**_**I don't think so, but Captain Hawkeye didn't sound like herself. She could just be stressed out by something that Mustang is doing to annoy her, but I've never heard her sound so tense. I promise as soon as I know something more, I'll let you all know, okay?"**_

He felt their agreement and assent before they distanced themselves from him and the bond faded back into a more neutral state.

"Brother?" Al's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Do you want me to stay here with Elysia?"

Ed sighed. If this _was _something serious, he didn't want Elysia there, but at the same time he knew Al should be. Now that Al had recovered and was allowed to travel, he'd been regularly going out on missions with Ed again and it was only fair that he be given all of the details about what they were up against.

"No, it's probably just another boring mission briefing," Ed sighed exasperatedly, making Elysia giggle at his dramatics. "Might as well make it interesting by siccing Elysia on him." He grinned as her giggle turned into full blown laughter at the thought. Al looked at him, asking if he was sure, and Ed nodded. "Better not keep them all waiting for our illustrious presence. Al, you might want to lose the tiara or else everybody will want one," Ed added as his younger brother stood.

The younger boy flushed before placing the tiara on Elysia's bed before helping her get her shoes on while Ed went to get his coat.

* * *

Elysia was very happy to walk in between the two of them, swinging their hands as she led them towards Central Command, though Ed and Al did have to correct her a couple of times before they arrived. She took the gentle scolding in good humor, however, since she adored her 'big brothers' and knew that they wouldn't say anything just to be mean to her. Elysia's presence caused some slight confusion and concern when they arrived at the main gates, but they were let through without any trouble once both brothers assured the guards that she would be accompanied at all times. The walk to Mustang's office was just as much fun for the little girl as the walk to Central Command. She didn't often get to visit her Uncle Roy or his team at work, usually only seeing them when Gracia had them over for dinner. She made sure to say hello to everyone they passed and almost always got a hello back, though it was more often than not a startled one.

Edward pushed the doors open and stopped dead three steps into the room. "Whatever happened, it wasn't me," he said the moment he saw the serious and concerned looks on everyone's faces. His assertion of innocence had Havoc, Fuery, and Breda cracking a smile while Hawkeye and Falman looked a tiny bit more relaxed.

"Heya, Chief," Havoc greeted.

"What's up, big man?" Breda rumbled. Fuery and Falman both waved at them and smiled at the sight of Elysia.

"Edward, Alphonse, thank you for coming. I didn't realise you would be bringing Elysia," Hawkeye said, smiling broadly at the little girl.

"Mama's at work and I didn't have school today. Big brother Ed said Uncle Roy was just gonna give him a new mission, so big brother Al and I came too!" Elysia said excitedly. "Is Uncle Roy in his office? Can I go see him?" she asked, looking at the door that led to Mustang's private study.

"No, Elysia. He's in a meeting with some other important generals at the moment," Hawkeye said kindly. Edward frowned as he noted the tension in her voice despite the kind words and smile on her face. She hadn't said anything about Mustang being in a meeting when she'd called. "Do you think you can stay out here with the team while I talk to your big brothers for a few minutes?"

Elysia sighed in disappointment. "Okay," she said with a small pout that she wouldn't get to see her 'uncle' today. Edward nudged her shoulder and she looked up.

"We'll head to the shops after this and get something you can help me cook for dinner so your mom doesn't have to, okay?" Ed told her with a small smile on his face, and she brightened immediately. "Why don't you think of something we can cook together while Al and I talk with Miss Riza, okay?"

She nodded enthusiastically and made a beeline to sit next to Havoc, who quickly put out his cigarette when Ed glared at him. With a significant look at the rest of the team to get back to work, Hawkeye and the Elrics moved into Mustang's inner office, which for once was empty.

"Thank you for coming in so quickly. I'll keep this as brief as possible so you can get back to Gracia's," Hawkeye said, gesturing towards the couch. All three of them sat down. "Edward, I'm afraid I have some bad news, and I suspect it won't have reached you yet."

"About Mustang?" Edward asked, frowning.

"Not entirely," Hawkeye said. "Edward, Major General Andrews was found dead this morning." Ed looked stunned before he covered his mouth and tried to draw in a deep breath. Al reached over and quickly rubbed his brother's back just below his shoulder blades.

"How?" Edward managed after a moment.

"He seems to have been a victim of the serial killer. The same one who killed Bryce, Pardi, Summers, and Henley," Hawkeye said grimly. "I'm sorry, and I know that it's hard to hear. He was found this morning in the alley behind his favourite bar."

"Goddamnit," Ed swore, pounding his left hand against the arm of the couch. "One of the only other generals I could really stand and wouldn't have minded serving under…" He could feel the Lions holding back from demanding answers, but they were clearly agitated from feeling the rage and grief that had filled him at Hawkeye's news about General Andrews' death. He appreciated the fact that they were kind enough not to overwhelm him with their worry, but he could feel the restraint they had to exert to keep from overwhelming the bond and that was a little distracting.

"Are you okay, Brother?" Al asked with a worried yet sympathetic look on his face.

Edward drew in another breath. "Yeah, I'm okay, Al. Pissed as hell, but I'm okay." He looked up at Hawkeye with burning golden eyes that demanded answers. "So where's Mustang really?"

"He's being formally interviewed in connection with all five murders," Hawkeye said, and both boys' eyes widened in shock.

"Wait, you mean –" Ed managed after a moment.

"They don't actually think Brigadier General Mustang killed them, do they?" Al asked, and Edward looked angrier.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes certainly doesn't, but he's the only one involved in the case that appears to," Hawkeye told them grimly. "The generals he reports to – especially Combes and Widdon – seem particularly certain that Brigadier General Mustang is the person behind these crimes based on the way the victims died. They've completely disregarded the fact that not all of the lab tests have come back with results yet and the fact that there is no evidence directly tying the general to these crimes."

Ed scoffed. "That sounds about right," he said as he stood and started pacing back and forth between the couch and Mustang's desk. "No, guys, you really can't help me right now. I swear, I will tell you everything later. No, I'm alright, just got some upsetting news. Yeah, something might be happening here, but I promise I'm alright."

Al and Hawkeye watched as Ed apparently had a random conversation with himself. They would both readily admit that it was strange watching him like this, even though they knew full well who he was talking to. While he didn't often speak out loud to the Lions, they'd both seen him do it often enough to not be completely fazed by the strangeness of the action.

"Mustang," Ed replied in answer to a question from one of the Lions. "Yes, I will tell you everything once I know what's going on, okay?" Ed rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I swear, Black. Yes, within the hour, I promise." He shook his head for a moment before returning his attention to his brother and Hawkeye as if he hadn't just been talking across a dimensional barrier with five magical Lions. "Okay, so what do you need from us? They haven't arrested Mustang, have they?"

Hawkeye shook her head, both in response to his question and in fond exasperation. The adventures that Edward got himself into… "Not yet. They wouldn't dare without more substantial proof. They would need either irrefutable evidence or an arrest warrant from Führer Grumman and he won't give them one based on the case they have right now. We just needed you two to be aware of what was going on. The fact that all of the victims have a connection to Brigadier General Mustang has us concerned. That _can't_ be a coincidence. General Mustang believes he is being framed by someone who wants to see him out of the picture."

Edward nodded and paused in his pacing to think, his head dropping so that his chin was on his chest and his bangs were hiding his eyes. Al and Hawkeye gave him a moment to think, waiting while he no doubt went through all the scenarios of how the situation could play out. When he finally looked up at them again, his face was set with an expression of stubbornness that both of them recognised. "What are we looking at, Captain?"

"It won't take much more to push this situation over the edge," Hawkeye said. "I have a feeling that if there is even one more death, the Führer won't have any other choice but to issue a warrant for the general's arrest." Her brown eyes were hard and determined. "Edward. Alphonse. If the situation goes that far – if the general is court-martialed for this and he's found guilty, the rest of the generals will no doubt push for a death sentence by firing squad. Given how brutal and gruesome these crimes have been, they will no doubt get it. He has no alibi for any of the nights of the murders, and the fact that the victims have all been burned to death is only working against him."

Both brothers stiffened at the mention of a firing squad. The thought of it going that far…

"We may need your help to try and uncover the real criminal if they do end up arresting General Mustang. Until he is no longer considered a suspect, you won't be going on missions, Edward. We can't afford to have you out of Central right now, and the call for his arrest could come at any time." Edward nodded in understanding and Hawkeye looked at Alphonse. "We would appreciate your help if it comes to it, Alphonse, but you're not military, so if you're not comfortable with the idea –"

"Captain, I'll help in any way I can if I'm needed," Al interrupted her and gave her a reassuring smile.

Hawkeye sighed. "Thank you boys. Also, please don't say anything about this to anyone except Gracia." Both of them nodded immediately. She stood and Al followed suit. "Now, I believe you promised a certain little girl that she could go shopping to help you with dinner and a pack of Lions that you would give them some answers. Best not keep any of them waiting," Hawkeye said with a smile that the brothers returned, even though Ed rolled his eyes at the mention of the Lions. She led the way out of the office.

"Big brothers!" Elysia greeted them like she hadn't seen them in days, rather than for a handful of minutes.

"Hey, El. Did you behave?" Ed asked.

The little girl nodded, throwing her arms around his automail arm as he reached out for her, before she paused and looked at them. "Are you going to be leaving again, big brothers?"

Edward forced a smile on his face despite his anger over the whole situation. "Nope, not right now, Elysia. That's what Miss Riza wanted to tell me. Your Uncle Roy is keeping me in Central for a while yet, because he might have an important job for me soon."

"Yay!" she cheered. "I don't like it when you leave."

"Well, you're stuck with me for a while. Did you figure out what we're cooking?" he asked as he lifted her off the chair she was perched on.

"Yup!" she told him excitedly. "Mr. Fuery helped me pick!"

"He did? Well you can tell us on the way to the shops, okay? Say goodbye to everyone." Ed told her and she immediately went around and hugged everyone before returning to the brothers' sides. "Sorry we can't stick around. See you later," Ed said, waving goodbye as Al did the same and they received a chorus in return while Elysia tugged determinedly on his arm. He listened absently to what she had to say about her visit to the rest of the team, allowing Al to carry the bulk of the conversation as he updated Black and the rest of her sisters.

* * *

Mustang concealed his amusement behind his well-practiced mask as Combes and Widdon put forth their best intimidating acts. So far they had spent half their time standing behind Brookes in a manner which Mustang thought he was supposed to believe was threatening. It probably would've worked better if they didn't spend half of the time trying to get Brookes to hurry up with his questions or flat out talking over the top of the other man.

"So you're saying you don't have an alibi for any of the nights in question?" General Combes demanded, slamming a hand down on the table. Mustang didn't even blink – he was far too used to Edward kicking his office door open at random times.

"I have an alibi for each night in question. I just don't believe there's anyone who could corroborate my alibis since I was home, alone, each night. I'm sure you're aware that I am not married, General Combes, and I have no children and no roommate, so I live by myself. I didn't have anyone make a random visit in the middle of the night for some reason, and I didn't spend my night in a bar, as I sometimes like to do after a stressful day," Mustang told them calmly. "My recent promotion has added a great many additional responsibilities onto my workload, some of which I am still learning the full scope of, and I'm often at the office late into the evening. On those nights, I tend to go straight home and seek out my bed. On the nights when I don't stay at the office late, I've been invested in my own personal alchemic research."

"Why wouldn't you have an alibi?" Widdon asked.

For a moment, Mustang paused, no ready answer coming to mind as he processed the question. Wanting clarification on what exactly his fellow general was asking, he asked a question of his own. "I'm afraid I don't follow, General Widdon. What exactly do you mean?" He kept his tone level and calm, as he had throughout the whole interview, knowing that it had to be infuriating the other two, although given the expressions he'd seen cross Brookes' face at different points, the younger officer was having trouble keeping his amusement contained and was managing to do so only with extreme effort.

"You've known you were a connection between the victims since Colonel Summers' death. Why wouldn't you ensure you had some sort of alibi for when we inevitably questioned you? Surely someone of your rank would've had no problems getting one," Widdon observed.

Mustang tipped his head to the side curiously. "Are you trying to subtly ask me why I haven't paid someone off to be my alibi or why I haven't fabricated one?" Brookes kept a neutral face, but Mustang could tell by his eyes that he was curious as well.

"Of course not, Mustang. I'm merely asking why you didn't have a member of your team stay with you each night, or why you didn't stay at a friend's home so you would have an alibi for at least one of the nights in question," Widdon told him.

"It's very simple, really," Mustang replied. "You see, I didn't think I'd need to go out of my way to create an alibi – and make myself look guiltier in the process – because I don't need one. I know I am not the perpetrator of these murders, and I trust that Lieutenant Colonel Brookes will do his job properly, despite any obstacles that try to divert him. I have confidence that he will find the real killer. Why should I stop living my life or vary my regular routine when I've done nothing wrong?"

The not-so-subtle remark aimed at them had the two generals snarling in response. Mustang dismissed them and looked back at Brookes. "Do you have any further questions, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes?" They'd already been at this for almost four hours. The generals had picked over every detail of his relationships with the five victims, and had tried more than once to get him to trap himself by asking the same questions in different ways, to see if he would give a different answer. The fact that he'd remained calm, polite, and cooperative throughout the entire process, even when they tried to rile him up had only served to infuriate them even more.

"Not at this time. Thank you for coming in with us, Brigadier General Mustang," Brookes said, standing as Mustang did and shaking his offered hand.

"Let me know if I can be of any further assistance to your investigation, Lieutenant Colonel. Gentlemen, have a good day." Mustang dipped his head to the two pissed-off looking men as Brookes held the door open for him and murmured a quiet apology that Mustang responded to with a small, triumphant smile, before heading for his office to get back to his paperwork.

Upon his arrival, he found his entire team waiting for him, instead of just Hawkeye, with the exception of Ed and Al. The Elrics had apparently come by and been briefed, but as they were caring for Elysia that day they hadn't been able to stay, although both brothers had made it clear that they were willing to do anything they could to help.

"What are you going to do, sir?" Hawkeye asked as he returned to his work.

"The only thing I can do. Wait to see what happens. I know I didn't do this, and eventually the truth will come out," he told her as he signed his name to a report. "If I change my habits or do anything to alter the way I am living my life, it will only look like I'm trying to hide something."

She nodded. "The Führer said that he would reschedule your meeting with him for tomorrow right after lunch, sir. The rest of your appointments have been rescheduled for the day after tomorrow."

"Thank you, Captain," he said. "You're dismissed."

* * *

_Later that night…_

Lieutenant General Olivier Mira Armstrong left the up-scale restaurant where she had been dining with her family and turned in the direction of Central Command. It would have been easy enough to hire a vehicle to take her there, but in all honesty she wanted to walk. Führer Grumman's secretary had contacted her at her family's mansion this morning to request a meeting tonight, if she was amicable. They had settled on an eight o'clock meeting in his office as no other time suited both of them and he had assured her that it would be quick. She wasn't in Central for much longer, planning on returning to Briggs the day after tomorrow unless she was ordered to stay.

She had taken a rare trip away from the fortress that was back under her command now that the Promised Day was past and things had returned to normal in order to travel down to Ishval and check on the work that Major Miles was doing. When Mustang had pledged to help the Ishvalan people restore their homeland, he had asked if she would be willing to loan Major Miles to the team he was overseeing for a year, perhaps two, desiring someone on his team who was both Ishvalan and Amestrian and could see and balance both sides of any potential conflicts while the military assisted in rebuilding what they had once destroyed. When Miles had indicated his willingness to assist, she had allowed him to be reassigned, with the promise that once the restoration work had been completed he would be reassigned back to the North.

As the trains didn't run directly between Ishval and North City yet, she had been obligated to stop off in Central and – _somehow_ – Alex had found out that she was coming into the city and had been there to meet her train and prevailed upon her to return home with him and spend a few days with their parents and younger sister now that the three had returned from their trip to Xing. Out of a sense of familial obligation she had agreed, but at the moment she was wishing that she had refused – she would have been able to avoid having to sit through the sort of tedious dinners like the one she had just left.

She scowled impressively as she stalked towards Central Command. She was actually grateful for the meeting, since it had allowed her to escape the dinner long before the desert course was served, and after spending three hours listening to Alex crying about Mustang being framed for some rather vicious murders that had been happening over the last month and a half, she had just needed to get _away_. She noticed that the few people on the streets that she passed were watching her with wary expressions and – although she normally wouldn't have been bothered by what other people thought of her – she schooled her expression so that she merely looked displeased instead of murderous.

A noise from the alleyway ahead caught her attention. It had sounded like someone was scuffling their feet on the cobblestones and she had been prepared to walk right past it. A small smile curved her lips. She would almost welcome some idiot attempting to mug her tonight. After spending hours among "polite" society, she needed to release some of her pent-up frustration, and the opportunity to teach some worm a lesson about mugging people would be satisfying.

Despite her thoughts, she kept her muscles loose and her gaze focused on the looming hulk of Central Command. As she reached the halfway point of the opening to the alley, however, there was a faint whisper. She froze and listened closer, eyes narrowed in concentration as she strained to extend her hearing as far as it could go.

There it was again. It was faint and it was a cry for help.

Armstrong snarled as she considered her options. It could be a trick since she was a high-ranking military official and she didn't have any bodyguards with her. With Miles in Ishval and Buccaneer dead, she didn't have anyone she trusted that much to watch her back. Besides, she wasn't some dainty damsel. She could damn well save herself if someone tried to attack her. As a general rule of thumb, the military had always been looked on with suspicion from the ordinary population, but that had been especially true since the fiasco of the Promised Day and the information that had come out during the court-martials of Generals Edison and Klemin.

To be fair, however, the efforts of those that had fought against the homunculi and their Father and the rebuilding that had happened over the past half a year or so had gone a long way towards smoothing over some of the strife and discord that had threatened to rear its ugly head. She and Mustang had both been praised as heroes, as had many of her loyal Briggs men; and Führer Grumman had made it clear that they had been fighting against a subversive and powerful force that had embedded itself in the highest levels of their military and that he was committed to purging that force and restoring order.

The cry for help came again and she turned down the alley. She couldn't leave without at least checking. If it really _was_ someone who needed help and she left them to suffer, she would feel a _touch_ guilty. It was possible the scuffling she had heard was just someone injured or drunk stumbling into the alley. Besides, if this was a trap, she could beat some insignificant twerp's ass and _still_ be at Grumman's office in time for their meeting.

The smells within the alley were overpoweringly disgusting - a blend of stale alcohol, sour vomit, urine, and garbage. Her nose wrinkled involuntarily at the stench as she moved cautiously down the alley, listening for the voice to try to pinpoint where the victim was. She made it halfway down the alley, the sound of the voice growing louder. She eased past a narrow point of the alley where a pair of dumpsters flanked either side of a low, protruding part of the building's wall. She stopped suddenly as she realised that she'd been paying too much attention to the location of the voice and not enough to what it was saying. It was repeating the same two phrases.

"_Help me." _There was a pause of a few seconds, and then "_Please someone, help me." _The sound came from somewhere deeper in the alleyway. It sounded like a child or a young woman and although it wasn't uncommon for victims to repeat the same phrase or phrases over and over as they lay hurt somewhere, this didn't feel right. The tip-off was that the phrases kept repeating with the exact same amount of time between them, and the tone always stayed the same. There were no hitches in the words as the person speaking them sobbed, and no cracking in the voice with the thought that no one could hear the person calling out.

There was a noise behind Olivier and she snarled as she ducked, the weapon aimed for her head just missing. She felt the breeze as it passed over and noted that it was a stout piece of steel – a pipe perhaps. She went to draw her sword, but her hand only met empty air and she suddenly remembered that she had promised her mother she wouldn't wear it to dinner since they would be out in public. Growling at her own idiocy, Olivier spun on the heels of her boots and swung a fist at the figure, but they'd already moved and a moment later she felt the pipe smash into her head with a sickening crack that even _she_ could hear and she dropped to the ground in a graceless heap.

Her vision blurred instantly and she was having trouble getting her eyes to focus enough to see what was in front of her. The bright streetlights at the end of the alley were orange blobs and the dumpster to her left was nothing more than a dark patch in her vision. Her peripheral vision was gone and more blackness was creeping across the edges of her visual range. She saw a black blob enter her vision and based on the location of the blob, she realised that she was looking at a pair of standard-issue military boots. Through sheer force of will, she managed to raise her aching head a few inches. She took in the dark blue military uniform as she felt her hair dampen with her own blood. Her head was throbbing horrifically and she struggled not to groan. She was _not_ going to give her attacker the satisfaction of hearing her pain.

She snarled at herself. She was _not_ some helpless damsel and she would _not_ take this attack lying down like some _victim_. She was an Armstrong, damn it! With a supreme effort, she pushed herself upright, feeling the bite of the rough cobblestones beneath her hands as she shoved against the ground. Her foot slipped on something slick before she managed to get to her knees. Her vision swam as her center of gravity shifted, and it was for that reason that she wasn't able to block or dodge the next swing of the pipe before it smashed into her ribs with excruciating force. Her breath was forced out as she felt at least one rib break. She went back down, her face smashing into the filthy ground beneath her.

As she managed to draw in a small breath that caused her chest to erupt with pain almost equal to that in her head, she couldn't stop the tiny groan of pain from escaping her lips. She raised her head again although her vision went black for a moment as sparks of light appeared in the center of her gaze, but she blinked rapidly to clear it and glared back up at her attacker.

The next thing she took in was the jacket, open slightly more than regulation allowed to show a white dress shirt. She could hear something that sounded like scratching and forced her vision further up and took in the white gloves. She couldn't get her eyes to focus enough to make out any clear details, but she saw the hand shake before the scratching noise sounded again and she saw sparks fly and her eyes widened.

There was no way it could have been _him_ standing over her! She would _not_ be dying by his hand, and _especially_ not in some filthy alley. She made another attempt to get to her feet then. If it truly was him, she wouldn't take this lying down! She was going to force him to look her in the eyes as he killed her. Her attacker evidently didn't expect her to try and regain her feet a second time since he stumbled back half a step when she got to her hands and knees.

There something about the startled movement made her think twice about who was trying to take her down, but her mind was too fogged to pursue the doubt further. Forcing her muscles to obey her, she managed to push herself fully up onto her knees a second time, but before she could do anything further she felt the pipe smash into her back, just below her shoulder blades and she went down again but managed to catch herself on her hands.

Her attacker's foot came out of nowhere, hooking against her wrists and causing them to buckle and she slammed into the ground a third time, her back and wrists throbbing, and her chin clipping the cobblestones hard enough that she felt the coppery tang of blood fill her mouth where she'd presumably bitten her tongue. There was that scratching sound again and she knew she wasn't going to be able to get back up. She swore at her body's lack of cooperation with her commands and decided she'd do the second-best thing she could if she couldn't fight: she'd survive and she'd identify the serial killer.

She turned her head and made herself look at her attacker's face. Her vision wasn't working in her favour and she could feel a warm wetness run down from her temple to pool in the corner of her eyes. She blinked and literally saw red and knew that it was her own blood blocking her already poor vision. Blinking again, she kept her eyes trained on where her attacker's face should be, hoping for him to step into some sort of light so she could get a good look at him. There was something off with him though. Her mind was screaming as it struggled to figure out which part of it was right. There was a sound from the building behind Armstrong and her foe jerked back in fright. There was another noise – Armstrong thought it was a door – and her attacker fled down the back of the alley.

Two seconds later, the door behind Armstrong opened and someone stepped out grumbling under their breath before she heard a short, piercing shriek that made her already aching head hurt even worse and seemed to penetrate right down to the center of her brain. There was a curse before someone with long, dark curly hair was leaning down in front of her line of sight. She wanted to tell them to get away from her, her habit of never accepting help still strong despite her wounds.

Something slipped into her hand – cold, and an odd combination of hard and soft at the same time. Skin…fingers. The woman had put her hand inside Armstrong's, likely to assure her that help was coming. She could see the woman's lips moving and with a frightening start, Armstrong realised that she couldn't hear the woman's voice.

She refused to allow herself to panic though. This would be temporary. It was the shock from the blow to her head settling in, that was all. She kept her eyes on the woman's lips, trying to make out what she was saying, but blackness was creeping in from the sides of her field of vision. There were more moving shadows behind the woman who had found her, but she knew she wouldn't be awake for much longer.

She managed to close her fingers around the woman's hand, drawing her attention away from the other man-shaped shadows that were beginning to gather in the alley. "M…military uni…" she started, trying to describe her attacker before she lost consciousness, but her words were slurred by pain and fatigue. She rallied and tried again as the woman leaned closer. "Whi…glov…sparks…mil…uni…"

Blackness overtook her vision and she allowed herself to slip into nothingness.

* * *

Major Alex Louis Armstrong had just finished a lovely dinner with his wonderful family and was holding the door of the restaurant open for his youngest sister Catherine and their parents to walk through. He mourned the early departure of his oldest sister Olivier, but he knew that she was in an important meeting with Führer Grumman right now. They would have the opportunity to have another family dinner tomorrow night before she headed back to Fort Briggs to resume her duties of protecting their northern border from the ever-determined forces of Drachma.

Their car and driver were waiting outside the restaurant and Alex moved to open the door for his mother and sister when he heard someone calling his name and the sound of someone running. He paused and looked up the street towards Central Command and spotted a soldier rushing right towards them, his eyes fixed on Alex. He stopped, saluted, and then relaxed when Armstrong gave him a nod.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your evening, major," the younger soldier managed after pausing to take a breath and compose himself. "It's your older sister, Lieutenant General Armstrong, sir." Alex heard his mother and sister gasp as his father sucked in a sharp breath of his own.

"What happened? Where is she?" Armstrong demanded.

"She's at Central Hospital, sir. She was found lying beaten in an alley about a quarter of a mile from here. We believe her attacker was the same person who attacked the other five victims," the sergeant told him.

Armstrong dismissed him and bundled his family into the waiting car, directing the driver to take them straight to Central Hospital. As they drove, the driver pushing the car to the fastest safe limit he was willing to dare, Armstrong thought again about what he had been telling his family at dinner. The murders of the military officers had caused a stir around all of Central, but mostly around the military itself. Olivier had heard about the rash of killings going on, but not any particular details and she'd scoffed when Alex had described how hard Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and his team were working to uncover the perpetrator.

"_The men of Briggs would never permit a serial killer to be running around our territory," Olivier declared firmly. "The fact that no one has caught this man is only more proof of how ineffective and poorly trained the troops assigned to Central have become, as if the Promised Day hadn't already demonstrated that."_

"_Ah, sister. I do not believe that it is that simple. This foe is devious indeed. By all accounts he has even managed to lay suspicion upon Brigadier General Mustang by choosing fire as his weapon of choice. The bare fact that he has so successfully divided us, to the point that anyone would even entertain the notion that Brigadier General Mustang would do this is intolerable, and yet it is clear evidence of his cunning." Alex responded with a shake of his head. "Why, this very day the Führer authorised Brigadier Generals Combes and Widdon to drag General Mustang into an interview room as if he was a common criminal!"_

_Olivier snorted in derision. "Mustang may be a gifted alchemist, I'll grant him that much, but he's not clever enough to be the one behind these crimes. If he is the one committing them, he's being phenomenally stupid by making the cause of death something that so clearly links him to the bodies. He's not ruthless enough to be able to eliminate his rivals in this fashion. To put it simply, he's soft."_

Alex had been in the hallway when he had seen Mustang escorted past the Investigations area of the base and towards the interview rooms by Brookes, Combes, and Widdon. The generals had looked gleefully smug, Brookes had looked resigned and irritated by the whole proceeding, while Mustang had been calm, confident, and patient. He could understand why, for formalities sake, they'd had to question Mustang, but the expression on the faces of Combes and Widdon had rankled him. Of course, from everything he had heard before he had left for the day, they had been much less gleeful and far more irritated when Mustang had walked out of the interview room almost four hours later.

Armstrong was dragged from his thoughts by the car coming to a stop in front of the hospital and he followed his parents and Catherine out of the car while their driver went to park and the four of them hurried into the hospital. His father was immediately demanding to know where his daughter was, and one of the nurses was quick to identify who he was and who they were looking for. Locating Olivier's room, she paged the doctor and led them down a hallway.

Olivier's doctor was a middle-aged man with blond hair, but the encroaching grey at his temples showed that the gold was well on its way to turning silver. He looked harried and Armstrong felt a small pang of sympathy for the man when his eyes found them and he seemed to sink a little before remembering himself and straightening once more.

"General Armstrong?" the doctor greeted his father, who nodded impatiently. "I'm Doctor Randy Evans. Your daughter Olivier was admitted nearly an hour and a half ago. I believe that the military had some trouble locating you. We've been able to treat her wounds and get her settled in a room, but she will need to remain here for some time while she heals." He turned and grabbed a chart from the pile he had been sorting through and flipped a couple of pages.

"What happened to her?" Philip Armstrong demanded. "The soldier who found us only said that she had been attacked by the murderer that's claimed five lives so far."

"She was attacked with some sort of blunt object, like a pipe or a piece of wood and sustained some serious injuries including a head wound and a broken rib. The injury that is causing us the most concern is the head wound. What she suffered is called an open fracture of her skull. Fortunately, it's relatively easy to treat and should heal well on its own within the next six weeks. For tonight, to give her body a chance to rest and to help prevent any swelling or bleeding of the brain, we've put her into a medically-induced coma, and we'll be monitoring her closely. Based on our examination, we're optimistic that won't occur, but as head wounds can occasionally be unpredictable, we decided to err on the side of caution. Whoever hit her either wasn't aiming to do serious damage in the first place, or had a weak swing, if you'll excuse my plain words."

The direct way of explaining the situation was what allowed Alex to finally recognise this doctor as one of the few at the hospital that young Edward Elric hadn't been able to con into letting him leave the hospital without proper treatment. When Alphonse had been in the hospital after the Promised Day, Evans had been one of his primary doctors by Edward's insistence and personal request.

"She has some other bruising, mainly to her side and back, and her left wrist has a hairline fracture and some deep bruising, so we believe, based on the position of the injuries that her attacker struck her while she was down on the ground or was trying to keep her down. Either way, her wrist and ribs have been wrapped and will heal by themselves. As I stated, her head wound is our primary concern at the moment."

"Doctor Evans, how long will she be required to stay in the hospital?" Armstrong asked before his father could bluster at the poor man. He wanted to growl at the fact that someone would attack another person while they were already down. What kind of coward did that?

"Once she wakes up, she'll be required to stay in the hospital until her stitches are taken out and to allow us to continue to monitor the wound for any complications. Depending on how quickly the wound site heals, it could be a week or two. Generally, we prefer to wait at least a day when it comes to medically induced comas before we start easing the patient out of it. With a fractured skull, I'd like your permission to wait at least thirty-six hours," Evans said.

"Why is that?" Mrs. Armstrong asked in a voice not nearly as strong as it normally was. Alex knew why – Olivier was the first born, and their mother had raised her to be of strong character and values. There was a bond between the two women – hidden most of the time due to the nature of Olivier's work and the status their family was regarded with by the rest of the military.

"It's not the injury to the skull that has me the most concerned, but any possible damage to the brain itself. The skull is just a bone like any other, and will heal itself, given enough time. What we will be looking for is swelling or bleeding in the brain itself, and keeping her in an induced coma will keep some of the strain off of her body and that will aid her recovery. We don't want to keep her under for too long, but thirty-six hours will give her body a chance to recover from the shock of the injury and restore its own equilibrium. As long as she doesn't show any signs of developing swelling or bleeding at the site of the injury, we'll start easing her out of the coma. Those thirty-six hours will prove pivotal in what her recovery time will look like. So long as nothing unexpected happens, she'll be home sooner."

Alex watched his parents talk quietly while he pulled Catherine to the side and wrapped one of his muscled arms around her shoulders gently. What the doctor spoke of – Olivier was practically a force of nature. The idea of her being in a medically-induced sleep when only ten months ago she'd been battling the homunculus Sloth and the immortal legion at his side with a broken arm, fractured ribs, and a concussion was troubling to him.

"We'll follow your recommendations, Doctor Evans." Alex sighed in relief when his father's voice was back to its usual, calm tenor. Evans seemed to relax as well before leading them down the hall to Olivier's room. They had just reached the doorway when they paused and Alex had to suppress a frown with effort. Coming towards them from the opposite end of the hallway were Brigadier General Combes, Brigadier General Widdon, and Lieutenant Colonel Brookes. Of the three men, Brookes looked the most like he really didn't want to be there.

"General Armstrong, Major Armstrong. Mrs. Armstrong." General Combes saluted the retired General and his wife and nodded towards Alex. "We would like to speak to Lieutenant General Armstrong and get her statement about the attack this evening." The way he had worded it wasn't as a request.

"Doctor Evans has just informed us that Olivier is in a medically-induced coma and will be staying that way for thirty-six hours at the minimum," the patriarch of the family told them. "After that, it is up to Doctor Evans and Olivier herself as to when she will be receiving visitors. You may speak to her when both of them feel that she is up to it."

Both of the generals' eyes flashed angrily, Combes more so than Widdon, and Alex gently pushed Catherine behind him and took a step forward to stand between his father and mother.

"That is unacceptable. She is the only surviving victim of a dangerous serial killer! We need her to be woken up so she can give us a more detailed statement than the military uniform and gloves he was wearing, plus sparks appearing from his hands," General Combes said angrily. "A medically induced coma can be reversed at any time. We need you to do so immediately. She can be placed under once more after we've finished questioning her. We need her to name her attacker!" It was evident to everyone present who Combes wanted her to name.

"Let me get this straight, general," Doctor Evans was the first to speak up as he took a step closer to where Combes and Widdon stood. His voice was just on the edge of being calm but was threatening to boil over with every word he spoke. "You want me to put my patient – the Armstrongs' daughter – in medical danger so you can put additional and completely unnecessary stress on her body and mind by pulling her _out_ of the coma we were forced to put her _in_ so that her life wouldn't be at risk…all so that you can try and get her to name Brigadier General Mustang as her attacker?"

The two generals spluttered and Brookes looked torn between terrified and amused.

"Let me remind you," Evans continued, his voice deadly calm, "that she suffered a strong enough blow to her temple and head to cause an open fracture of her skull. Her vision was likely blurry at best and unreliable at worse. There is also the distinct possibility that the injury may have caused short-term memory loss – she may never remember the actual attack, since the mind has been known to bury traumatic memories in an effort to protect itself. We won't know if that is true until we bring her out of the coma and run some neurological tests. The chances of her having clearly seen her attacker are about as good as your chances of getting me to reverse her coma. In case that isn't clear enough, I'll put it in simpler terms. It's _not_ happening." Alex could see why Edward had been unable to talk his way out of leaving the hospital without Doctor Evans' permission if this confrontation was anything to go by.

"You are not a doctor, are you, Brigadier General?" Mrs. Armstrong asked; her voice was deceptively calm. The irate general shook his head and moved to speak, but she didn't give him an opportunity. "Then you will _not_ be making medical decisions for my daughter – who also outranks you – and ordering around someone who is not under your command and isn't required to listen to you. My daughter will be out of the coma when Doctor Evans decides it's best for her to come out. You will be allowed to talk to her about what she did or didn't see or what she remembers when she is ready to have visits from people who are more concerned with making themselves look good as opposed to those who are concerned about a victim's health…and not a moment sooner." The fury blazing in his mother's eyes had Alex taking a slight step back and he wasn't the one her gaze was aimed at.

Widdon intervened before Combes could say anything further. "We're very sorry for any distress we've caused you, ma'am, sirs. It was not our intention. I'm sure you can sympathise with the pressure we are under to arrest the person responsible for these deaths and your daughter's attack. We will leave for now and wait for Doctor Evans to contact us when Lieutenant General Armstrong has recovered enough to give us a statement." Alex had to give him enough grudging respect to approve of the fact that Widdon's voice held a note of fear, while Combes seethed at his side. Brookes looked ready to go back to his office and down a bottle or two of whiskey, if the stress lines on his face were anything to go by. "We wish your daughter a speedy recovery. Thank you for your time." Widdon saluted before nudging Combes, who also offered a salute before the two of them retreated down the hallway.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes?" Alex called to the other man who was about to follow his commanders down the hallway. "May I have a moment of your time, sir?"

"Yes, Major Armstrong?" Brookes seemed hesitant as he faced Alex, who towered over him, despite the fact that Brookes was higher-ranked than Alex. Alex nodded to his parents and sister to go in and sit with Olivier.

"I'll be in momentarily," he promised. They nodded and followed Evans into Olivier's room. Once the door was closed behind them, he faced Brookes again. "I am aware that you are not under any obligation to speak to me, sir, but I would very much appreciate your honest opinion to my question." Brookes nodded, indicating that he could continue. "Do you believe that Brigadier General Mustang is the perpetrator of the crimes and the one who attacked Olivier?" Alex didn't want to doubt one of the few officers he considered a friend and a man worthy of respect, but Combes had mentioned white gloves and sparks coming from those gloves…

Brookes sighed. "Honestly, Major? I don't. Brigadier General Mustang doesn't seem to be the kind of man who would deal with problematic enemies or rivals in this manner. He has been cooperative and open with me each time I've spoken with him, and of those I've interviewed who know him as a person, they all share my feelings. I believe something else is going on, but I am unfortunately left with only a small amount of wiggle room, and with the statement given by the witness who discovered your sister about sparks coming from white gloves, I'm afraid my argument about there being no physical evidence tying him to the crimes isn't going to suffice any longer. Unless your sister can definitively say that the brigadier general was _not_ her attacker, I do not believe I will have any choice but to arrest him for the crimes and charge him with five counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, unless I am given orders directly from the Führer instructing me not to. General Combes and General Widdon are not the only ones among the high command who share the same opinion about General Mustang."

Alex nodded. "That is what I thought. Thank you for your transparency, sir." He offered the tired man a salute, only for it to be dismissed almost immediately.

"I wish your sister luck in her recovery," Brookes said, turning and leaving the hallway. He heard Armstrong enter his sister's hospital room and sighed as he went to catch up with the generals. He had a feeling he knew what their next stop was and he had already decided that he would have no part in that meeting. He really needed a strong drink and there was a very good bottle of Scotch in his office waiting for him.

* * *

Grumman had been waiting for Lieutenant General Armstrong to arrive and had been growing steadily more worried the further past the agreed upon hour it grew. He knew Armstrong well enough to know that she was completely respectful and punctual, and if she hadn't been able to make their meeting for some reason, she would have notified him as early as possible. It wasn't like her to simply not show up, and he didn't believe that she would have forgotten.

His secretary had knocked and come into his office to tell him the news of her attack fifty-five minutes after she had been found. She had apologised for the delay in telling him the news as she had been the one trying to contact the Armstrong family and had finally gotten confirmation of where they were before sending a sergeant to notify them. Grumman thanked her and asked if there was any information on her prognosis or her attacker.

"The woman who was the first to find her told the first of the military police on the scene that Lieutenant General Armstrong was only conscious for a minute or two after she was found, and she mumbled something about a military uniform, white gloves, and sparks," Samantha told him. Grumman grimaced as he realised exactly who that described. Samantha sympathised with him. She personally didn't care for Mustang due to his reputation as an outrageous flirt and womanizer, but she never would have pegged him as the kind of person who would do this sort of thing. "As for her prognosis, sir, I'm afraid I have no other information other than that her wounds didn't appear life-threatening. I've asked the hospital to notify us once they have an update on her condition."

Grumman sighed with relief. He couldn't help but feel partly responsible for the attack. If Lieutenant General Armstrong hadn't been on her way to see him, perhaps she wouldn't have been attacked. "Thank you, Samantha. Please keep me updated on her condition as you learn about it."

Samantha nodded and left him alone once more. He sighed and rubbed his face. He knew that the generals would hear about the attack and what Armstrong had supposedly said to the lady who found her within the hour if they hadn't already. It wouldn't be long before they came knocking on his door, demanding an arrest warrant. He sighed once more as he realised that he would have to give them one. He _did_ tell them they needed physical evidence or an eyewitness that placed Brigadier General Mustang at the scene of a crime and they may have just gotten it.

Hoping to distract himself from his concerns for Armstrong, he set to work on some of the paperwork that he hadn't been able to complete due to his meetings that day. Forty minutes later, a knock came at the door again and Samantha stepped into view once he permitted her entrance. She came to stand near his desk before he nodded at her.

"I just got off the phone with Lieutenant General Armstrong's doctor, Excellency. He says she has an open fracture to the skull, a broken rib, and a hairline fracture of her wrist, as well as a multitude of other bruises and minor wounds. It appears that she put up a fight against her attacker, but was still overwhelmed. They've had to put her in a medically induced coma to keep a close eye on her head injury and to give her body a chance to heal itself as much as possible before she woke up and put too much additional stress on herself." Samantha said and an annoyed scowl flickered across her face. "Her doctor – Doctor Evans, by the way – informed me none too kindly that if we wish for Lieutenant General Armstrong to make the best possible recovery, we should refrain from having generals turn up and demand she be woken from her coma so they can question her immediately."

Grumman felt his anger bubble up. "I see. Did Doctor Evans mention which generals, by any chance?"

"General Combes and General Widdon, sir."

Of course it was those two. "Very well. I believe we'll be expecting the two of them shortly and possibly a couple of the other generals. If Lieutenant Colonel Brookes is with them, show him in first and immediately, as I'd like to speak to him alone. If Brookes is not with them you may show them in immediately." Samantha nodded and left once more. Once again, Grumman scrubbed at his face before grabbing his pen and getting back to his paperwork, trying to dull his mind so he wouldn't be able to stew in his anger at two of his generals turning up at a hospital and acting the way they did.

Half an hour later, there was a quick warning knock before the doors swung open and Samantha barely got herself out of the way of the generals storming into his office. She looked like she was going to growl at them before she remembered herself and glanced at Grumman. He held a hand up to indicate that she should wait there and she did so, though she looked a little confused.

"Führer Grumman –" General Widdon was the first one to start speaking, but stopped when Grumman stood up to level a glare at him.

"Both of you will turn around this instant and apologise to my secretary for the way you just tried to bulldoze through her. I do not care about how much of a rush you are in; it would only have taken a few seconds to allow her time to move to the side when she opened the door to permit you entrance to _my_ office," he ordered them, his voice filled with steel. Samantha looked a little startled, while Combes and Widdon looked disgusted they'd have to apologise and surprised at his reaction respectively.

Widdon was the first to turn around and apologise to the shocked secretary. After a nudge from his companion, Combes grudgingly turned as well and offered an apology, though it was evident in his attitude that he didn't understand why he had to apologise to someone who wasn't even a member of the military. Grumman nodded to Samantha, who in turn nodded back and left the room, pulling the doors closed behind her.

"Now, what is so important that you nearly ran over my secretary?" Grumman asked, sitting back in his chair.

"We need you to sign an arrest warrant," Combes said, smiling smugly.

"For whom?" Grumman asked as he leaned back in his chair. He knew he was being a little petty, but he couldn't help himself. Widdon placed the arrest warrant on his desk.

"For Brigadier General Roy Mustang. Sir." The 'sir' seemed to have been tacked on as an afterthought by Widdon.

"On what grounds are you charging him?" Grumman asked as he picked up the papers from his desk and read through them. Combes made an irritated noise and Grumman raised a brow.

"We're charging him for murder, as you well know, Führer Grumman," Combes spat out.

"I thought I was clear that you would need an eye witness or physical evidence to arrest Mustang in relation to those crimes," Grumman stated, pretending as though he was unaware of the attempted murder of Lieutenant General Armstrong.

"We have an eye witness, sir," Widdon cut in before Combes could say anything. Given how purple Combes' face was turning, it was probably a good thing he didn't get to say anything. "Lieutenant General Armstrong was attacked this evening, Excellency. The waitress who found her told the private who questioned her that Lieutenant General Armstrong described her attacker as someone in a military uniform, wearing white gloves, and that they were making sparks with the gloves before she lost consciousness."

Grumman raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Forgive me, General Widdon. I had been told that Lieutenant General Armstrong's doctor had been forced to put her in a medically induced coma in an effort to save her life and treat her wounds after she was brought to the hospital." He made no move to pick up his pen to sign the warrant. "This means that she cannot have given you a statement herself yet. All you have to go on is the statement of the woman who was the first to find the lieutenant general after the attack, plus the similarities in the scenes. Am I correct?" Grumman asked.

"Yes, sir." Widdon managed to grind out.

Grumman sat there and considered the two men. "You can have your warrant to arrest Brigadier General Mustang for the suspicion of the murders and Lieutenant General Armstrong's attack." The generals barely held in their victorious grins, although the expressions vanished with Grumman's next statement. "However, there are three conditions. One: you _will_ wait to file formal charges until Lieutenant General Armstrong's doctor and the general _herself_ have agreed to let you question her. Let me be clear here. You will _not_ talk to her until you have both her permission and her doctor's." He pinned them with a stare and waited for the terse nods. "The second condition is that _if_ Mustang is actually charged with the crimes in question and court-martialed, you will do nothing to interfere with the defense's ability to prepare a case of their own, and you will _not_ deny Mustang his basic right at a fair trial. Let me remind you of the innocent until proven guilty concept you keep forgetting when you start thinking about having Mustang arrested. Amestris' courts – and especially our military courts – are not for you to use as you see fit to try and get rid of your enemies and rivals."

Both generals stiffened at that. "Finally, Brigadier General Mustang's confinement is to be humane and only the minimum amount needed to contain him to ensure that he will make it to a potential court martial. Am I absolutely clear on all three conditions? If I find out that you tried to weasel your way around any of those conditions or left orders contradicting the ones about Mustang's confinement as I've laid them out, you will not like the consequences, Generals," he warned and knew he had them cornered. If they wanted Mustang to go to trial, they would have to follow his conditions and if they tried to interfere in any way to push their agenda, they'd be facing disciplinary action themselves – and as a rule, disciplinary action was harsher the higher in rank one was, since senior officers were intended to serve as an example for junior officers.

"Crystal clear, sir," Widdon said as Combes nodded. Grumman kept his glare on them both for a moment more before reaching for the arrest warrant. He read through it carefully before he picked up his pen and signed it, and then applied his seal of office. He didn't hand it over immediately when Widdon reached for it, however.

"The last thing, generals, is your despicable behaviour in the hospital this evening," Grumman said, moving the warrant out of their reach. "Never in my life did I think that anyone in our military would demand a doctor to reverse a life-saving treatment that he'd put his patient in well before the time they were ready to come out of it in a blatant display of abusing their power." The glare he leveled the two officers with would have had some men trembling. "Need I remind you that the doctors in our hospitals are _not_ under your command? You had absolutely _no_ right to walk into that hospital and start ordering Doctor Evans around like you did. Not only that, but you had the gall to do so in front of Lieutenant General Armstrong's family! May I remind you that Major General Philip Armstrong still holds a lot of sway with this military, despite the fact that he is retired? The two of you acted like spoiled children who had their toy taken from them and were demanding it back. You showed complete lack of respect for the doctors in that hospital and not a single ounce of empathy for the Armstrong family."

Grumman allowed his anger to bleed into his voice, but he never raised it. He had learned long ago that yelling was expected, but keeping your voice low made those you were mad at pay attention better. "The two of you were a perfect example of the entire reason most of the public doesn't trust the military completely with your disgusting behaviour in that hospital," he snapped.

"We apologise for our behaviour, sir. We can only claim that our desire to see justice brought about for the victims and Lieutenant General Armstrong overrode our common sense and we allowed it to get the best of us," Widdon said, standing at attention. Combes was standing in a similar fashion, but he looked angry that he was being scolded like a naughty child. "We have already apologised to Doctor Evans and the Armstrong family and will not allow ourselves to behave like that again. We're aware of how poorly our actions have affected the military and are sincerely apologetic about it. It won't happen again."

"Well, if your apology was anything like the one you just offered Samantha, I can understand why the doctor was still angry when she called the hospital to check on Lieutenant General Armstrong," Grumman told them. "You will each write a proper apology to Doctor Evans and his staff as well as the Armstrong family. You will both hand deliver your letters and apologise once again in person and you _will_ have done so by tomorrow afternoon," Grumman ordered and saw the disbelief in their expressions. "If you want to act like children who didn't get their way, I will treat you how I treated mine when they acted in a similar fashion. You had better hope that the Armstrongs and Doctor Evans don't take this any further once you've apologised."

"Yes, Führer Grumman," both generals said simultaneously.

"Good." He handed over the arrest warrant. "Make sure that Lieutenant Colonel Brookes is with you when you go to serve this on Brigadier General Mustang. This is still his case after all." They both nodded. "Remember what I said and get out of my office." He dismissed them brusquely and watched as they left before slumping in his chair once the door shut.

* * *

Despite the interruption caused by that day's formal interview with Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and the generals, Mustang had been able to get the remainder of his paperwork done without having to remain at the office late into the evening. It amused him every time he realised that Hawkeye still couldn't believe that he was finishing his paperwork by the deadlines and was convinced that he had fallen back on old habits of burning and/or hiding some of it. She had recently begun randomly searching his office. When he'd mentioned (in a joking fashion) a few days ago that he was wounded by her lack of trust in him, she had leveled him with the flattest look he'd ever seen from her and he'd conceded to her silent point.

He'd returned to his office and worked as hard as he could to finish his paperwork and get out of the office at a reasonable time since he would likely be spending most of the next day in meetings to make up for the ones he'd had to cancel today. He'd been able to walk out of the office at six-thirty p.m. and was back at his home by seven-thirty, having stopped at the grocer's on his way home to buy something for dinner, or he wouldn't have been eating that night.

After eating and cleaning up from dinner, he had retreated to the couch in his living room with a glass of scotch and a book that he had been reading and had not had time to enjoy in the last few weeks due to the many late nights he'd been working.

He frowned when he heard a loud, persistent knock at his door and glanced at his wall clock, frown increasing when he saw it was nearing eleven p.m. He wasn't expecting anyone and he certainly didn't know who could be trying to cave in his front door at this time of night. He mind flicked to Edward, but dismissed the thought almost as soon as it occurred to him. If the blond alchemist was the one knocking on his door right now, he would've either already broken it down or he would've been yelling at him through it loudly enough to wake people three streets down. Or, Mustang grimaced as he set his book down on the table and rose to his feet, Edward would have simply alchemized his way through the door. He'd done that once too. Mustang hadn't been impressed. But he shook those thoughts from his mind as he grabbed the door handle, unlocked it, and opened it.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes," Mustang said in surprise before realising the man wasn't the only one standing on his doorstep, nor had he been the one knocking. "Generals Widdon and Combes. And," he looked at the two officers with them. "I apologise. I'm not sure we've met before." Mustang nodded at the two lieutenants. "To what do I owe this late night visit?" he asked, although he had a nasty feeling he already knew, judging from the unbelievably smug expressions on the generals' faces and the apologetic one on Brookes'.

"I'm sorry, Brigadier General Mustang. We have a warrant signed by Führer Grumman authorising us to arrest you on suspicion of five counts of murder and one count attempted murder," Brookes told him. Mustang was only partially surprised at the news.

"Who did I allegedly try to kill?" Mustang asked, curiosity winning over his dread and disbelief at the moment.

"You were seen fleeing after trying to kill Lieutenant General Olivier Mira Armstrong, Mustang," Combes crowed, pleased.

"I think you'll find your witness was very much mistaken, considering that I didn't attack Lieutenant General Armstrong. I didn't even know she was in Central already. Last I heard, she had been due to arrive from Ishval tomorrow," Mustang told them, not moving an inch from his doorway.

"It doesn't matter what lies you try to peddle, Mustang, you're still under arrest." Widdon told him and Mustang sighed.

"Wait there," he said before turning to walk to his phone. Movement that he saw from the corner of his eye had him stop. "If you take one step inside this house to arrest me, you will regret it. I am permitted to make a phone call and I am not resisting arrest," he reminded Combes, who had been the one to try and barge in. After watching them for a moment, Mustang got to his phone, still in the sight of the soldiers. He dialed the number he needed. The phone rang twice before being picked up.

"_Hawkeye."_

"Captain Hawkeye. I apologise for the late night phone call, but there are some generals at my door with an arrest warrant."

"_Are you alright, sir?"_ He could hear the concern in her voice, even though they had both been prepared for this eventuality.

"I'm fine, Captain. Would you please head over here as soon as possible? I need you to secure my house and put our plan for this kind of situation into action."

"_Of course, sir. Ten minutes."_

"Excellent. I'll see you in a few minutes." He hung up the phone and went back to the front door. "I will be going with you once my captain arrives," he told them, knowing he needed to be seen as cooperative as possible.

"You don't get to dictate the terms of your arrest, Mustang. You will be coming with us right now," Combes ordered and tried to reach for him, but Mustang stepped smoothly out of his reach.

"Is that an arrest warrant, or is it also a search warrant?" he asked. When neither of them answered he nodded. "If it is not a search warrant, then you have no reason to enter my home. I have sensitive alchemic research here, and I need to wait for my captain to arrive so she can secure anything related to my work. She knows what to look for and where I keep all of my research and she's the only one I would trust to do so. Unless, of course, you'd like to explain to the Führer how someone was able to break into my home while I was being held, stole everything I have on my flame alchemy in this house, and started wreaking havoc across all of Amestris because you refused to wait ten minutes for Captain Hawkeye to arrive to prevent that from happening?" He knew his tone was sarcastic, but he was aiming to make a point, even if the scenario he proposed was unlikely. "I give my word that I will come along quietly, but I'm not leaving this house until Captain Hawkeye gets here," he said to Brookes.

"That's fine, Brigadier General Mustang. We certainly wouldn't want to risk something like that happening," Brookes told him and Mustang barely kept the smile off of his face. The generals couldn't try and drag him out of the house without having it look as though they were throwing their rank around or without looking as though they didn't care about the potential danger Mustang had warned them all about because they couldn't wait ten minutes and they both knew it.

* * *

A very tense and awkward ten minutes went by before a car pulled in behind Mustang's own vehicle. Hawkeye climbed out of the back seat in full dress uniform and handed some cenz over to the driver before she shut the door and he left. She leveled a cold glare on the men before they parted for her. Mustang let her into the house and stood a step or two away from the door.

"Captain Hawkeye, at this time I am officially turning command of my team over to you and authorising you to act as my replacement until you receive official orders or I am released to resume my command. Do you accept this responsibility?"

She saluted him crisply. "Of course sir. I am honoured and will serve to the best of my ability."

"Thank you, Captain. My final order to you at this time is that you secure my alchemic research and my home. You know where everything is. Hopefully this gets sorted out quickly and the real killer is caught soon." Mustang handed her his keys and his ignition gloves, in full view of the generals so they couldn't claim he still had them on his person. "You remember what we discussed?"

"Of course, Brigadier General," she replied before snapping another salute. "I'll take care of everything on my end." He gave her a grateful grin.

"Thank you, Captain." He said to her before walking over to the door and stepping over the threshold. As he'd hoped, Brookes was the first one to get to him.

"Brigadier General Roy Mustang, you are under arrest for the murders of Captain Chase Bryce, Major Colin Pardi, Colonel James Summers, Brigadier General Aleyce Henley, and Major General Bernard Andrews, as well as the attempted murder of Lieutenant General Olivier Mira Armstrong. At this time, you will be temporarily stripped of your rank; however if you are found innocent of all charges your rank will be reinstated without penalty. You have the right to your own attorney if you wish, but if you cannot afford one the military will appoint you one. You have the right to remain silent as anything you say can and will be held against you during your court-martial. Do you understand your rights as I've explained them to you?" Brookes asked as he snapped the cuffs around Mustang's wrists, securing his arms behind his back.

"I do, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes. I have a lawyer. Captain Hawkeye will undoubtedly be calling him now to meet us at Central Command," Mustang told him and Brookes nodded. Mustang got the pleasure of seeing Combes' and Widdon's aggravation at being deprived of the opportunity to be the ones arresting him first hand. He would have laughed in any other sort of situation, but all he could feel was a large ball of dread settle in his stomach. However, to Mustang's surprise, he wasn't immediately led to the waiting car.

"Lieutenant O'Conner, Lieutenant Wayne, please remain here to guard the house from any opportunistic people. Decide between yourselves who will be guarding the back of the property, but do not step inside unless you suspect someone to have somehow slipped past the other and entered the house. Captain Hawkeye will be returning to her own home once she has finished what she needs to do and will secure the house behind herself. You will remain here until you are relieved in a few hours by the next guard rotation. I will accompany them myself so I can get your reports. If I am not with them, do not leave the property," Brookes ordered the two lieutenants.

"Yes, sir," they both saluted before relaxing once Brookes released them from the salute.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, may I request that you give Captain Hawkeye a list of the soldiers you plan to use to guard my house? She can tell you if any of them shouldn't be trusted with this duty." The two generals went to say something, their mouths forming sneers, but Brookes cut them off.

"Of course. I had planned to anyway," Brookes assured him as they headed towards the line of military cars at the curb.

Mustang eased himself into the back seat of the one Brookes led him to. He slid over as Brookes gestured for him to do so and the lieutenant colonel joined him while the two generals split up and settled themselves in their own cars. Mustang rolled his eyes at their silent display of power as Brookes gave the driver instructions to head to Central Command. He glanced back at his house as they pulled away before facing forward once more and trying to fight down the worry he was feeling. Lanco was an excellent lawyer and he had agreed to take Mustang's case should he be arrested, so Mustang knew he was in safe hands, but he couldn't help his worry. He just hoped this all got sorted out before too long.

A/N - Dun dun dun! What's gonna happen now? Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until next week to find out. Just an FYI, but the chapters will be roughly this length from here on out so be prepared!

As always, I would love to thank my amazing beta, PhoenixQueen, for her awesome work on this chapter and I would love to thank everyone who has written a review for the last chapters. Reviews make my whole day so much better when I see them so please keep posting your thoughts!

GuestP, since I can't reply to your review, thank you for your review on chapter 3. I'm glad you like Brookes :) I will see everyone next week with the next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

_The Hughes' apartment…_

The phone rang, breaking the silence of the apartment. Edward glanced up from the book he was reading and noted the time before scrambling to grab the receiver before the ringing woke Gracia or Elysia. He'd been in the living room reading in an attempt to quiet his mind after the nightmare he'd had earlier. After his long conversation with Shiro and Black back on the Castle-ship, he'd found that the nightmares came less frequently than they had before, but when they did come they were usually still pretty bad. Reading until he exhausted himself enough to sleep was still one of the only sure-fire coping methods he had.

"Hughes' residence," he said quietly into the receiver, knowing that it was probably something serious, since Gracia didn't usually receive phone calls when it was nearly midnight.

"_Edward, its Captain Hawkeye."_

"Miss Riza? What's wrong?" Unlike the last time she'd called, this time he _knew_ something was wrong. Her tone of voice was taut with worry and she didn't even bother to try to hide it. He could feel the Lions stirring in the back of his mind, alerted by his sudden tension.

"_I'm at General Mustang's house, Edward. He's been arrested in connection with the murders, as we thought he would be. The Führer signed the arrest warrant an hour ago after the attempted murder of Lieutenant General Armstrong."_

"Wait, what?" Ed was stunned. "General Armstrong? Has the killer gone to Briggs?" His shock apparently resonated down the bond he had with the Lions enough that they all began clamoring in his head, alarmed by whatever they were sensing from him. He ignored them with an effort, trying to focus on what the captain was saying.

"_No. The general was in Central on her way back from visiting Ishval to see how Major Miles was proceeding on the restoration efforts. She was out to dinner with the rest of her family and had to leave early for a meeting with the Führer, but she never made it."_

"Is she going to be okay?" Edward asked. He owed her a lot for her help with the Promised Day, and even though she'd initially been suspicious of him and Al, she'd warmed up to him – at least a little.

"_The doctors seem confident that she will be, although she has a head wound they're watching carefully. She's been placed in a medically induced coma for the next thirty-six hours while they monitor her condition. Supposedly she told the woman who found her in the alley that she saw a military uniform, white gloves, and sparks."_

"Goddamnit. I'll be right over," he said. "I just need to wake Al and let him know where I'm going."

"_What's wrong, cub? Talk to us!" _Black demanded in his head. He mentally growled at her, trying to focus, even as the pressure from their increasingly demanding calls caused his head to ache.

"_No, Edward,"_ Hawkeye ordered. _"Stay where you are for now. I've already secured the general's home and research. Combes and Widdon had an arrest warrant but not a search warrant, although I expect them to have rectified that detail first thing in the morning. I have no doubt they'll come by the office and want to search it for evidence. Come into the office after lunch tomorrow as if it was an ordinary day. We'll probably need some help cleaning up whatever mess they leave behind, and then there's something that I'll need to talk to you about."_

"Are you sure there's nothing I – no, Red, not right now!" He broke off what he was trying to say to Hawkeye to try to reassure Red, to no avail.

"_Edward? What's wrong?"_ Hawkeye asked.

"_Edward! Cub! Ed, please!" _Blue, Black, and Green all chorused at the same time, their mind-voices melding together. The cacophony of voices in his head was getting unbearable and he finally couldn't take it anymore.

"_Shut the hell up!" _he yelled down along the bond. _"I can't concentrate with all five of you in my head at once! I'll talk to you in a minute, but I need to focus right now!"_

His sudden anger surged down the bond along with his words and they fell silent immediately, allowing the pressure to ease, much to his relief as he refocused his attention on what Hawkeye was saying to him. "Sorry, Captain. The Lions are all in my head because they sensed I was upset about something. Are you sure there's nothing I can do tonight to help?"

"_Not tonight there's not. Tell Al and Gracia in the morning and let them know that once the news of this breaks – which I expect it will first thing in the morning – they may be asked questions by reporters. It won't take the reporters long to figure out the connection the two of you and the Hughes have to the general. Make sure they know not to say anything to anyone right now. I'm sure the Führer will make an official statement sometime tomorrow."_

"Okay," Edward said, still uncertain. "Just come into the office at lunch tomorrow?"

"_Yes. I have to go, Edward. I still have to contact the rest of the team and give them a heads up. Just remember not to talk to any of the press."_

"Alright. Thanks for letting me know. I'll see you tomorrow."

She bade him farewell and Edward hung up the phone, his mind racing. There was no way in hell that he was going to get anymore sleep tonight, not after that news.

"_Edward?"_ Blue's mind-voice was timid but layered with overtones of curiosity and concern. _"We're sorry for distracting you, but what's going on?"_

He sighed. _"You're forgiven. I'm sorry for yelling at you, I just couldn't concentrate on what Hawkeye was saying to me with all of you yelling in my head. You were giving me a headache." _He felt their joint apologies and regret as they realised what their earnestness had done to him. _"As for what's going on, I just found out that Mustang's been falsely accused of committing five murders and one attempted murder. He was arrested an hour ago."_

"_What?!" _Black demanded. "_How could anyone even think that he would be responsible for a single murder, let alone five of them?"_

Edward filled them in on what little Hawkeye had told him earlier in the office about the Führer being forced to issue an arrest warrant if there was another attack. _"Al and I are going to have to work with the rest of the team and try to save his ass. I'm just not even sure where to start. I track down rogue alchemists for a living – I don't generally chase serial killers, unless they try to kill me first."_

All five of the Lions sent him comforting thoughts and expressed their confidence that he and his brother would be able to figure out the truth. He returned to the couch and picked up his book, but didn't read it, his mind spinning with possibilities and everything he knew about the military and its justice system – which admittedly wasn't much, since he'd only ever testified at Moore's trial, and that had been a civilian court.

"Brother? What's wrong?" Al's voice was soft from where he stood at the end of the hallway leading towards the bedrooms.

"Mustang's been arrested for the murders, Al," Ed told him darkly. "Combes and Widdon showed up at his house with a warrant they got the Führer to sign earlier tonight."

"Wait, what?" Al asked, his soft voice rising in pitch and volume due to his surprise. Ed shushed him and he scurried over to sit next to Edward on the couch. "I thought Captain Hawkeye said that they didn't have enough evidence."

"There was another attack tonight," Ed said. "Lieutenant General Armstrong was the victim." Al stared at him with wide eyes, all trace of sleep gone. "Don't worry, she's alive," Ed said. "But she's in a coma right now due to a head injury and the doctors are watching her closely. But if she saw her attacker…"

"It couldn't have been the brigadier general!" Al said firmly.

"I know, but Combes and Widdon don't see it that way. They think they've got an eyewitness since she said she saw a military uniform, white gloves, and sparks before she passed out. The Führer was forced to give into their demands for the time being. But that's all I know right now. The captain said she wants us to stay here tomorrow and not come in until after lunch. I don't know why exactly, but it sounds like she and Mustang have some kind of plan cooked up."

"Okay, brother. What do we tell Miss Gracia and Elysia?"

Ed sighed. "We'll have to tell Miss Gracia in the morning. Maybe she'll know how to explain it to Elysia so that Elysia won't get too upset. Most importantly, we don't want either of them talking to anyone about what happened. The last thing Mustang needs is for his name to be bandied around and this to become a case of public opinion."

Al nodded seriously. "That goes for us too, I guess. We'll have to just talk to the team and maybe the Führer or Lieutenant Colonel Brookes." He looked at the clock and saw that it was past midnight. "We should probably try to get some more sleep, Brother. I have a feeling the next few days are going to be exhausting. Maybe we should get a hotel room so that we don't accidentally wake Miss Gracia and Elysia if we come in late at night."

"We can talk about it tomorrow," Ed agreed. "Let's see what she thinks first." He looked at his book but knew that Al was right. They were likely going to be pushed to the breaking point over the next few days. "Come on, Al. Let's try to get a few hours of sleep."

* * *

The news about Mustang's arrest broke in the early morning hours. For Ed and Al, it had been a restless and broken night of sleep as they wondered how they could best help prove his innocence and get him out of trouble, so as soon as they heard Gracia stirring in the main room of the apartment, they got up as well and sat down with her to tell her what had happened the night before. She was angry at the treatment that her late husband's best friend was being subjected to, but she believed them when they told her they were going to do everything they possibly could to get him out of trouble.

After Al went to wake Elysia up so she could have breakfast before going to school, Edward turned to Gracia. "Miss Gracia, if people don't know already, it probably won't take long for them to figure out that you have a connection to Mustang through Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. They may try to hound you for information, but it's important that you don't say anything to anyone about him. Miss Riza thinks that the Führer will probably make an official statement later today."

Gracia sighed but nodded. "All right. What are you and Al going to do?"

"For this morning, we're staying here," Ed told her. "We want to go and start helping, but Miss Riza asked that we wait until after lunch for some reason. I think she and Mustang have some sort of plan up their sleeves, but she said she'd talk to me about it once we get there." He gave her a serious look. "If people try to give you trouble, call us. We'll come and help no matter what we're doing."

Elysia and Al emerged just then and after she had greeted her mother and her other 'big brother', Gracia sat her down and looked at her seriously. "Elysia, you need to know something. Are you listening to me?"

The little girl nodded with wide eyes.

"Elysia, your Uncle Roy is in a lot of trouble right now," Gracia said calmly, but simply. "There are some people he works with who think he's done some really bad things, and they're trying to prove it because they don't like him very much. Your big brothers are going to do everything they can to help him, so they might not be around very much for the next few days."

Elysia's eyes had filled with tears as soon as her mother told her that her favourite 'uncle' was in trouble. "B-but he didn't do it, right?" She looked at Ed and Al. "You're going to help Uncle Roy, right, big brothers?"

Ed knelt down and ruffled her hair. "Of course we are. But this is the important part of what your mom and I needed to tell you. A lot of people may try to talk to you about your Uncle Roy or say mean things about him right now until we can prove he didn't do what they're saying he did. It's really important that you don't talk to any of those people, okay Elysia? I know you want to tell everyone how much you love your Uncle Roy and that he's a good person, but people aren't going to want to hear that right now. As hard as it's going to be, you need to not talk about Uncle Roy until your mom and I say you can, okay?"

She nodded with her huge eyes still tear-filled. "Will I be able to see him and give him a hug so he knows how much I love him?"

Ed and Gracia exchanged glances. "Probably not, sweetie," Gracia finally said. "But once Ed and Al get him out of trouble, we'll have him and everyone else on the team over for a special celebration feast and you can hug him all you want."

"Okay," she said quietly and sniffed a little.

"Hey, no crying, Elysia," Ed said with a smile. "You know Al and I don't quit until we get what we want. There's no way we're not going to be able to help him. He'll be over here for that feast before you know it."

She seemed to cheer up a little at that. "Okay."

"Come on, sweetie. Let's get you some breakfast so you can get to school and Mommy can go to work."

* * *

Unfortunately, that plan didn't work out as well as they had hoped. Less than two hours after Gracia and Elysia had left for school and work, while Ed and Al were sitting in the living room making notes about anything they could remember about the cases to try to figure out an angle to attack the problem from, the phone rang. Ed picked it up, expecting it to be Hawkeye.

"_Edward, its Gracia. Can you come and meet me at my work? I just got a call from the school – Elysia's very upset about something and won't stop crying about wanting her mom or her big brothers, and I can't leave the building. There are reporters outside and they won't let me pass without trying to shove a voice recorder in my face."_

Edward's temper snapped. "Of course. We'll be right there." With that, he hung up and the two of them secured the Hughes' apartment before heading to meet Gracia at her work. It was a short walk and once they arrived they saw that things were actually worse than Gracia had described. While the majority of the people outside the building were reporters, there were a fair number of regular citizens waiting there, many of them catcalling or shouting insults about Mustang. Once the reporters realised that Ed and Al were there and who they were, they swarmed. All it took, however, was one reporter shoving into Ed's face for them to learn what happens when voice recorders meet alchemy. Next to his brother, Al was applying the same treatment to a camera.

With the brothers clearing a path for her, Gracia hurried out of the building and the three of them raced to Elysia's school, arriving in record time. They found the little girl in the office, tears streaming down her face and sobbing quietly, one of the teachers sitting with her, patting her back soothingly while they waited. Elysia spotted them first and leaped into her mother's arms faster than humanly possible. It took a little while to get her calmed down enough to tell Gracia what had happened.

According to the little girl, some of the older children had started teasing her about her 'uncle' being in trouble. It was well-known around the school how much Elysia loved Roy and how much she talked about him, since he was now the closest thing she had to a father. She'd wanted to say something back, but she'd remembered what Ed had told her and not said anything at first, other than to tell an adult. As it turned out, the adults hadn't been any better, asking her questions about Mustang so they could pass the information on to the reporters. Elysia had been reduced to tears when even more kids got involved in the teasing, but the clincher had been when one of the boys demanded to know 'how it felt to have an uncle who killed people and how she could possibly love him'. The teacher who had been sitting with her was actually a teacher's aide and had been the only one to step in and stop the badgering before escorting the distraught little girl to the office before calling Gracia and sitting to wait with her.

Gracia listened to all of this, kissed Elysia on the forehead, and told her to wait with her brothers before she'd marched into the headmaster's office. The yelling from inside the office could be clearly heard even out by the secretary's desk, and both Elrics learned a new-found fear for an angry Gracia. She came out of the office fuming but had smoothed her face into a gentle smile before Elysia saw her. She thanked the teacher's aide profusely while Ed gathered Elysia up and handed her over to her mother. The combination of pissed-off Elrics and a seething Gracia had everyone who had even _thought_ about approaching rethink their plan.

Once they arrived back home and Al had locked the door of the apartment firmly, Edward called the office to talk to Hawkeye about what was happening. He told her about what had happened to Elysia and Gracia and the captain had sworn softly before asking if they were alright. Ed had assured her that they were fine and asked about what was happening in the office. The news that he got back didn't come as too much of a surprise, given what she had told him the night before. The generals had stormed the office early that morning, search warrant in hand, and tossed the place, looking for anything that could implicate Mustang in the murders.

Fortunately, Hawkeye had been smart enough to anticipate this and had removed the case full of spare ignition gloves that Mustang kept in his office when she had first arrived in the morning. The generals hadn't been in a good mood and Hawkeye confided to Ed that she thought it had been because Mustang's lawyer, Kenneth Lanco – a lawyer who had made his reputation defending people against military abuses – was refusing to let Mustang answer any more questions, telling them that he'd answered everything he was going to the day before and that was all they were going to get to work with.

"Okay. We'll be in right after lunchtime to help get started," Edward said. "I want to make sure Gracia and Elysia are going to be safe here before we leave them."

"_I understand. Please give them my sympathies and apologies,"_ Hawkeye stated. "_We'll see the two of you later. Be careful, Edward."_

Edward went back to where Gracia and Elysia were curled up together on the couch. Al had made hot drinks for everyone – cocoa for Elysia, tea for Gracia, and strong coffee for him and Edward.

"How's everyone in the office?" Gracia asked.

"Swamped. The office got searched by the generals this morning. They obviously didn't find anything, but they left a massive mess behind that the team is still working on cleaning up. Miss Riza thinks they're not happy because Mustang got himself a good lawyer and because he's innocent, so there wouldn't be any evidence that incriminates him lying around." Ed sighed. "We're going to go in after lunch and help start investigating." He leaned forward and scratched the back of his head, already thinking about how much work this was going to take. Brookes was a good investigator, and Ed knew he wouldn't have arrested Mustang unless there was plenty of evidence against him.

"You're gonna help Uncle Roy, right?" Elysia asked in a small, meek voice. Ed felt his heart clench a little at her heartbroken face. It reminded him far too much of Nina in that moment and how she had sometimes looked so lonely…

"We're gonna try, El," Ed promised her.

Elysia nodded before curling back into her mother's side. Silence reigned in the room for a few minutes before the little girl spoke again. "Mama, I don't want to go back to school tomorrow."

Gracia shut her eyes as she fought against the surge of anger that swelled to the surface at the reminder of what Elysia had gone through. "I'm sorry, darling. I'd love to take some time from work so we could stay home, but I couldn't leave you here by yourself if I had to go to the shops and your brothers will be too busy helping your uncle to look after you."

Al suddenly sat up like he'd gotten an idea. "What if you left for a bit and went to stay out in the countryside? There'd be no one around to hound you like today, and you could get some peace and quiet while we work on this mess. We wouldn't be waking you up at Truth knows what hour every night when we came back to get some sleep."

Gracia sighed. "That would be lovely, but I don't know anyone in the countryside," she pointed out, but Al was already shaking his head and Ed knew what he was about to suggest.

"But _we_ do. Winry's granny lives in Resembool and now that Winry is apprenticed in Rush Valley, she's all alone in her house. I'm sure she'd love to have some company for a bit. If you're lucky, Winry might not have left for Rush Valley yet, since the last time we talked to her she was going to stay with Granny for a month or so."

"Big sissy Winry?" Elysia asked before Gracia could try and refuse.

"Yeah! We could give Pinako a call now and see if we can't get you on this afternoon's train. One of us should be able to come back from the office later to help you get to the train station without any problems. I might even be able to borrow a car from the military," Ed said, warming to this plan and Elysia looked a lot livelier at the thought of seeing her big sister.

Gracia looked at them both for a few moments before sighing. "Only if Pinako is okay with it," she relented and Ed went straight for the phone, dialing a number he knew by heart. It rang a few times before a peppy voice sounded on the other end with a familiar greeting.

"_Rockbell Automail, how may we help you?"_ Winry asked and Ed gave a small sigh of relief.

"Winry, its Ed. Is Granny there?" Ed asked, although he winced a bit as his tone came out a little more rushed and impatient than he'd intended.

"_Edward Elric! This is the first time you've called in who knows how long and you're using that tone on me?!"_

Ed sighed. "Winry, I don't have time right now. Can you please hand the phone to Granny?" he asked, modulating his tone to be a little nicer, if still slightly annoyed. She huffed and he knew he would pay for this at a later date, but right now he didn't care.

"_Fine, here she is." _There was a brief noise as the phone was handed over.

"_Edward."_ Granny's croaky voice sounded over the phone.

"Granny, I need a favour," Ed said and she only scoffed in response.

"_I figured as much. What's wrong?"_

Ed sighed. "You remember my commanding officer Mustang, right?" She made an affirmative noise. "There's been a serial killer in Central for the last couple of months and whoever he is, he's taken the lives of five military officers. Late last night Mustang got himself arrested for the murders. The problem is that Mustang's being framed and we need time to prove it."

"_I'm not hearing anything that sounds like a favour," _Granny pointed out.

"I know. Look, people around here know that Miss Gracia and Elysia Hughes are basically Mustang's family. They're already hounding the two of them in the streets, and he only just got arrested last night. They cornered Elysia at her school and questioned her, Granny. She's getting bullied and harassed by everyone, and Miss Gracia's work place isn't any better."

He heard Granny mutter some choice works before sucking in a deep breath, no doubt breathing in her pipe smoke.

"_You want to know if they can stay here for the foreseeable future."_ Granny didn't ask and Ed nodded before remembering that she couldn't see him.

"Please," he said. "Just until we can figure out a way to prove Mustang's innocent."

Granny sighed. _"Winry is leaving for Rush Valley again in a couple of days. I would welcome the help around here and the fresh air and peace would do them some good. Alright, Ed. They can stay here."_

Ed sighed in relief. "You're the best, Granny. I'm gonna try to get them on this afternoon's train. I'll give you a call back when I've got tickets booked."

Granny _hummed_ affirmatively before hanging up and Ed headed back into the living room. "Granny said you're welcome to stay. Winry will be there for a few more days before she has to go back to Rush Valley, so you'll be able to catch up with her."

Elysia smiled excitedly and Gracia looked relieved. "I'll need to pack our things, call Elysia's school and my work to let them know we'll be gone."

Ed and Al nodded. "We'll head to the office. Miss Riza will be able to help us get tickets a lot easier than we could get them," Ed told her. "Will you two be alright by yourselves?" he couldn't help but ask.

Gracia gave him a soft smile. "Of course we will." Elysia nodded confidently and the boys couldn't argue with that. Elysia and Gracia gave them a quick hug each before both Elrics tore out of the apartment and were at the office in record time.

* * *

The first thing Ed thought was that a hurricane had torn through the office as he opened the door. Hawkeye had been understating matters when she said that the generals had left the place a mess. The captain herself wasn't anywhere in sight, but every other member of Mustang's team was and they looked relieved to see the boys enter the office.

"I'd ask how your morning's going, but I think I have a good idea," Ed said with a grimace as he took in the destruction. Files and papers were strewn across desks and the floor. Books and folders had been torn from bookshelves, flipped through and thrown to the floor. Desks and chairs weren't where they normally were and all the drawers had been emptied, their contents scattered, and the file cabinets were leaning precariously – and that was just the outer office.

"Yeah, it hasn't been fun," Havoc said with a tight smile.

Ed shook his head. "I need to talk to Miss Riza for a minute and then I'll help you lot. Where is she?" Falman pointed to the inner office. "Do I even want to know what they did in there?" Ed looked towards the door as though what lay beyond it might eat him.

That caused Fuery to giggle and Breda to chuckle while Havoc huffed as he grinned. "Probably not," Havoc said grimly and Ed sighed.

"Al, you start helping out here." His brother didn't argue, just went over to Fuery and asked where he should start. Ed headed for the inner office, trying to watch his step, but it was practically impossible to miss everything, and he gave up after a few steps.

He entered the office and it looked like a paper bomb went off in here as well. Papers and books were everywhere, coating every surface they shouldn't be. The couches had their cushions pulled out and Mustang's desk drawers were pulled out haphazardly, their contents scattered. His pens and photos were on the ground and the bookshelves had obviously been moved but had been righted once more. The huge map of Amestris had been pulled from the wall – no doubt in search of a hidden safe or compartment, Ed thought with a scoff – and was leaning against the wall since it would need two people to hang again.

Hawkeye was busy reorganising Mustang's desk when Ed walked in. "Edward. I hadn't expected you until after lunch. Is everything alright?" she asked, worriedly.

"Yeah. Actually, Granny Pinako has agreed to let Miss Gracia and Elysia stay with her for a bit so they're away from all this," Ed gestured to everything around them. "I was hoping that you might be able to book them tickets for this afternoon's train once we've gotten this mess organised a little bit." Honestly, as the messiest person he knew, Ed was almost amazed by how much of a mess the generals and their team had managed to make.

"Of course. Will I be booking one for you or Alphonse?" Hawkeye asked.

"Uh, probably not. Not unless something happens and one of us needs to go with them." Ed told her and she looked relieved. "Al's helping the crew out there. Would you like my help in here?" he asked.

Hawkeye nodded. "Please. You can start by gathering the books and arranging them once more," she said. "Actually, though, before you start, there's something that General Mustang and I talked about a few days ago that I need to tell you." The look on her face said this was very serious.

"Sure thing," Ed said, frowning as he wondered what it could be about before heading for the door and poking it out so he could see everyone else. "I'm gonna help out in here for a while," Ed told them and got nods of acknowledgment before turning back to the interior of the room. To his surprise, Hawkeye moved past him and over to her desk, where she retrieved her briefcase and brought it back into the office with her, closing the door behind herself. She cleared a space on the desk and opened the briefcase, extracting two official-looking documents that she placed on the desk and indicated that he should read.

Ed picked up the first one and read it over as she began to explain what was going on. The more she spoke and the further he read, the more surprised he was by the discussion.

* * *

Not even two hours after the brothers' arrival, the office doors burst open once more, startling those who had been too deep into their cleaning. The team looked up to see Generals Combs and Widdon walking into the office, stepping on random pieces of paper they could easily have avoided. Lieutenant Colonel Brookes walked in behind them, taking far more care to watch his step than his bosses had. Ed and Hawkeye walked out of the inner office, both leveling them with a flat look.

"_This is gonna be great,"_ Red whispered to the other Lions and Ed managed to maintain his flat expression only with a supreme effort. He could feel the other Lions' assent in his mind and knew that the Paladins were most likely waiting just as eagerly to hear what was happening.

"Generals whoever. Lieutenant Colonel Brookes. What can we _not_ help you with today? What are you doing here?" Edward asked, folding his arms over his chest, shifting his stance enough to rest the majority of his weight on his automail leg. Hawkeye flanked his right side and a moment later Falman moved over to flank his left. The rest of the team and Al weren't the only ones whose mouths were open in shock.

"You will talk to your superiors with the respect owed them, _Major_ Elric," Combes blustered, emphasizing Ed's rank to further his point.

"It's Lieutenant Colonel Elric, actually," Ed corrected. "I accepted my promotion this morning. Effective immediately." Everyone except for Hawkeye and Falman looked shocked and Ed didn't blame them. He'd made a point over the last few years about how little he cared about his rank and considering that he'd told Mustang to fuck off the first time he'd been offered a promotion, this wasn't something that they'd expected from him. "That aside, I showed respect to the one person who entered this room who has actually earned some from me." A pointed look at Brookes made it clear who Ed was talking about.

"Brother," Al whispered warningly, shooting him a terrified look.

"_You tell them," _Red whispered encouragingly at the same time as Al spoke. Ed winked at his brother before turning back to the seriously pissed off generals.

"I'm fairly certain I asked you two a question," Ed said. "Actually, I asked two, but let's focus on the second question since that's what I'm more interested in at the moment. Why are you here?" Ed tapped his foot impatiently as he watched them. Havoc and Breda looked like they were watching the most interesting thing they'd ever seen (and if there hadn't been senior officers present, Ed was certain they would have started furiously taking bets on the outcome of this conversation), while Fuery and Al looked like they thought they were about to witness a murder. Falman and Hawkeye were standing at Ed's back, their faces impassive.

"Congratulations on your promotion, Edward," Brookes smiled genuinely at him before it fell from his face. "We need the gloves that Brigadier General Mustang was wearing last night when Lieutenant General Armstrong was attacked. We need to run some tests and look for blood or any other indications that he was in the alley."

Ed tipped his head to the side before he glanced at Hawkeye. "Do you know where they are?" She nodded wordlessly. "Will you get them please?" She turned smartly on her heel and headed for her own desk before returning with a pair of gloves that had familiar red arrays stitched on the backs of them. She held them out for Ed to take before resuming her spot behind him.

Ed faced Brookes again, ignoring the generals for the moment. "I hope you understand that these are incredibly important to Mustang and his alchemy, and that he and I are both wary about them being handled by just anyone. So, here's the deal. You may take these so long as they never leave Second Lieutenant Falman's eyesight. Once the last person has run whatever tests are needed on them, they will be returned in a clear bag, sealed however you see fit to prevent tampering before they come back to me. I'll set an alchemic trap on them so that if someone manages to get around your measures, they'll be caught by mine. They will then remain in your custody at all times. Once Mustang is out of prison, you'll give them back to him personally. Deal?"

"Deal," Brookes said, shaking Ed's hand to seal the deal. Ed handed the gloves over to Falman, who nodded at Ed before following Brookes out of the office. Only once the door closed behind Falman did Ed turn to face the purple-and-red faced generals.

"_Good job. Now deal with these idiots,_" Green said encouragingly. She was as anxious as the other Lions to see Ed continue to verbally slaughter the generals.

"Why are you still here?" Ed asked, honestly annoyed now that their purpose for being here seemed to have been completed.

"Major Elric, you are being completely insubordinate. If this continues you will be disciplined accordingly," Widdon threatened.

"It's _Lieutenant Colonel_, and I'd be more concerned if I were, in fact, your subordinate. However, I'm not, so I ain't," Ed snarked back.

"We are of higher rank than yourself, whether you're a lieutenant colonel or a major," Widdon told him. "You may not be under our direct command, but you are of lower rank and still subject to the same protocols as any other member of the military, excluding the Führer, and you are required to show the same respect and level of subordination as you show your commanding officer," General Widdon informed him. His voice was smug, but his satisfied smile disappeared when Edward's smirk turned viciously victorious. He felt a surge of anticipation from the Lions at the same moment.

"I _suggest_ you read my employment contract with the military, generals," Ed said, his voice turning very smug. "My contract clearly states that I only answer directly to two people: my commanding officer – who happens to be Roy Mustang – and the Führer himself. If I follow anyone else's orders, it's solely because I want to. In case you're wondering why, the late Führer Bradley suggested it so I wouldn't be taken advantage of by people trying to manipulate a twelve-year-old into doing their dirty work by pulling rank."

Everyone, save for Hawkeye, blinked in surprise at that information. Al had forgotten about that clause in Edward's contract. Given Ed's casual disregard for his rank and the amount of attitude he had shown towards Mustang in the last few years, there hadn't been much reason to think about it.

"So, let's try this a third time, since you haven't yet answered my question. _Why_ are you _still_ here?" Ed asked, speaking slowly and clearly, as if to a child.

"We're here to assign the _former_ brigadier general's team members to their new commanding officers," Combes sneered.

"No, you're not," Edward told them firmly. "Führer Grumman revised the personnel transfer policies six months ago. Now the regulation manuals say that team members can only be reassigned under specific circumstances: they can request to be reassigned or transferred, they can accept a promotion to a new posting, or they can be dismissed from their team for poor performance or misconduct, all of which require formal paperwork to be filed by their commanding officer. The only ways that a team member may be involuntarily reassigned are if their commanding officer is arrested, retires, passes away, or is grievously injured and the recovery period will take longer than a year, _and"_ Ed emphasized the last word when Combes started to say something to show that he was still talking, "there is no one on the team ranked 'major' or above who is willing or in a position to take over temporary or permanent leadership. In case you didn't hear me earlier, I am now a lieutenant colonel and I can and have assumed leadership of the team."

"That's only if the Führer signs off on the change of team leader," Widdon stated. "Until then, we can do as we see fit."

Edward smirked and reached his right hand out towards Hawkeye, who produced an official-looking document, complete with a seal at the bottom. She handed it off to Edward, who in turn handed it to Widdon. "Signed this morning and effective immediately and until such time as Brigadier General Mustang is released from jail to resume his command or the Führer appoints another officer of appropriate rank to fill General Mustang's post." Widdon clutched the leadership transfer authorisation in his fist, crumpling it in his anger.

"Now, if that is _finally_ all, would you mind getting out of _my_ office so we can get back to work? Don't know if you know this, but there's a serial killer on the loose and someone ordered the arrest of the wrong man," Ed said with faux patience.

Widdon and Combes both snarled at him before Combes' eyes settled on Alphonse. He turned back to Ed, eyes glinting with victory once more. "Civilians who don't work for the military aren't permitted to look into any of the military's files; criminal or otherwise."

Edward considered this a moment before turning to look at Alphonse. "Hey Al? Wanna be signed on as my personal aide? The pay's shit and the day-to-day work sucks, but you'll get to catch a serial killer and stop high-ranking officers from jailing an innocent man to further their own political or personal agendas."

Al thought about it for a moment before grinning to match Ed's. "Sure, Brother."

"Captain Hawkeye, can you prepare some paperwork for him to sign, please?" Ed asked and Hawkeye allowed herself to smile at him as she nodded. Ed turned to the two generals and raised an eyebrow. "Anything else?"

They snarled before turning to leave, the door slamming behind Widdon so violently it sent a gust of wind through the room, tossing the few papers left on the floor all about before it dissipated.

Ed shook his head. "How rude of them," he sighed before facing the rest of the team and being greeted with three faces of complete shock. There was a brief impasse as everyone processed what had just happened in the last five minutes.

"Damn, Chief." Havoc's voice was awed and slightly scared, and with those two words, it was like a dam broke as Havoc, Breda, and Fuery started questioning him all at the same time, their voices melding into one – the Lions adding to the mix in Ed's head – before Ed whistled loudly, effectively shutting them up.

"Thank you," Ed said before holding a hand up. "Let me explain what's happening. After Henley was found, Mustang and Hawkeye started to realise that it was possible the whole situation might go downhill and that there was a chance the generals would be coming after Mustang with everything they could dig up against him, so the two of them cooked up this plan. Officially and on paper, I'm in charge of this team, but practically speaking, Captain Hawkeye is going to be calling the shots, unless the generals or others like them are within ear shot. This was the only way to keep the whole team together and let us work on the case. The fact that I'll be answering solely to the Führer until Mustang is released means that all of you will be as well, since I'm technically the person in charge here." He saw nods from the rest of the team. "Admittedly, Al coming on as my aide was not part of the plan, but I had to think of something. Don't worry, Al, I'll fire you after this is all over." He grinned as Al rolled his eyes.

"Not if I quit first, Brother," Al replied cheekily, which caused the others to laugh at their banter before silence came over the room again. After a moment, Al frowned. "Why were you really pissing the generals off, Brother? You've never revealed that particular clause in your contract and you've never been that rude to higher-ups that you don't like without good reason."

Everyone else, including Hawkeye looked interested in Ed's answer as they looked at the older blond.

"Since I humiliated them like that in front of witnesses," he gestured to all of them, "they'll split their attention between me and Mustang. If they're too worried about keeping Mustang in jail and trying to get revenge on the kid who humiliated them in front of others, they won't be paying as much attention to what you lot are doing. Right now, they can't touch me because I still have the Führer's favour. If they try to protest to him, they'll look petty and completely in the wrong. It'll take some of the heat off of you guys and let you do your jobs a shit-ton easier if you don't have them trying to block your moves at every turn." Ed shrugged before his face broke out into a wide, genuine grin. "Also, it was a lot of fun."

They all laughed again as the awed silence disappeared. Hawkeye shook her head fondly.

"Well, I guess congratulations are in order for your promotion, _Lieutenant Colonel_," Havoc grinned as he offered a salute. His grin widened when everyone else, including Al and Hawkeye followed suit.

Ed groaned. "You all suck," he complained playfully. "I can't believe that damned bastard kept the paperwork for my promotion after I told him to fuck off. I figured he would have burned it since he wouldn't have gotten in trouble for it." Hawkeye raised an eyebrow but said nothing to that.

"We should get back to work," Hawkeye said instead. "We still need to finish cleaning up in here and then get our investigation started. The brigadier general is counting on us to figure this out."

"We may also have some insider help," Ed grinned after a moment of no one knowing where to really start. As a team, they dealt with rogue alchemists and corrupt military officials, not serial killers. Scar had been the only exception to that, and that mainly because Mustang had been looking to use his capture as a way to move up the chain of command. When the others looked at him in confusion, he held up a folded piece of paper.

"What's that?" Fuery asked as everyone looked at the paper curiously.

"Brookes slipped it to me," Ed said as he unfolded the note and read it. "He says he's been officially ordered not to give us access to the case files, but he'll be out of his office with most of his team from twelve to one p.m. today, _and_ he happened to have Sheska make copies of all the files last night. He left them in boxes next to the bookshelf in his office." Ed could feel the Lions' begrudging respect for Brookes, which made him grin widely. His grin was reflected on everyone's faces when he looked back up. "So, here's what I think we should do –" he started to say, before the phone on Hawkeye's desk began ringing.

With a small frown on her face, Hawkeye walked over to her desk and picked up the receiver. "Brigadier General Mustang's office," she said simply, expecting to have to hang up because the caller was another reporter or military higher up calling to see what information they could get from her about Mustang's arrest, but that wasn't what she got. "May I ask why?" She frowned slightly as she continued to listen, the rest of the team watching her with interest. "Very well. He'll be on this afternoon's train." A pause. "Yes. Good day," she finished before hanging up.

"What's up, Captain?" Ed asked, causing her to look at him.

"You'll be heading to Resembool with Gracia and Elysia this afternoon, Edward." His eyebrows disappeared behind his fringe in surprise. "That was one of the military police officers stationed in Resembool. He said that a group of strangers walked into the village from the eastern edge of the town and found him, telling him that they needed to meet with the Fullmetal Alchemist. When he asked them to produce papers proving they were in the country legally and they couldn't, the officer arrested them. Their only request was for him to call you and have you come to Resembool so that the situation could be dealt with."

Ed sighed. "I swear to fuck that if it's Ling, I'll end him." His vow made the others struggle not to laugh as they remembered the obnoxious handful that was the Xingese prince. Somehow, he had managed to get under the skin of every single person who had met him, despite the fact that he had become one of the heroes of the Promised Day. The Lions – privy to Ed's memories – really did laugh, causing Ed to send a wave of irritation along the bond to them.

"I'll book you on this afternoon's train with Gracia and Elysia," Hawkeye said. "Should I book a ticket for Alphonse as well?" Al looked at Ed hopefully.

Ed sighed. "No, not Al. He'll stay here to help. Listen –" he continued when Al started to protest. "I need you here to go through the case files after we pick them up from Brookes and look for evidence of flame alchemy being used. Brookes is good, but I don't know how good he or anyone on his team is at spotting the signs. Even the best alchemy leaves _some_ sort of trace. You need to be here to look for it."

Al shut his mouth, but he didn't look happy about it, and Ed couldn't blame him considering what had happened the two times when Truth had abducted Edward and sent him to capture Harding and then later to help the Paladins and their Lions. After those incidents, Al didn't like to let Ed leave his sight and the time when he hadn't been allowed to travel with Ed on missions had been stressful for the younger teen.

"Look, I'll be back tomorrow afternoon." Ed assured him. "I'll drop Miss Gracia and Elysia off at Granny's house, deal with this situation with the strangers, and then leave on the first train out from Resembool tomorrow. If that soldier had said that the people had been looking for you, I'd send you and stay here myself, even though I'd want to go with you."

"Okay, Brother. I'll stay here and help Captain Hawkeye and everyone else," Al agreed, although he still looked disappointed.

"Thanks Alphonse," Ed said with a smile before he ruffled Al's hair affectionately. "Hey, look on the bright side. In about an hour you can come with Havoc and me and we'll go rob Brookes' office." Al rolled his eyes but eventually smiled.

"I get to rob an office? Sweet," Havoc said excitedly.

"Falman too, if he's back by then." Ed told him. "In the meantime, I think we should probably do as Captain Hawkeye suggested and get back to cleaning. We'll need some room to spread out the files and get to work once we have them." With that, he and Hawkeye headed back into Mustang's inner office to finish organising what they hadn't managed before they'd been interrupted while the rest of the team continued cleaning the outer office.

* * *

Almost an hour later, Havoc came to grab him from the cleaning frenzy. Ed looked around the office. While there were still a few things out of place or broken which would need to be replaced, they'd done everything that they would be able to do for the time being and it no longer looked as though a hurricane had swept through their office and left chaos in its wake. Falman wasn't back yet, but Ed would've been surprised if he had been. He knew it would probably have taken more than an hour for the lab techs to take whatever samples and photos they needed of the gloves before sealing them so that Brookes could bring them back for him to set his own surprise for anyone who tried to get to them.

He, Alphonse, and Havoc headed for Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' office as casually as they could. Thankfully, everyone seemed to be at lunch as well, so they only saw a couple of other people. Once they reached the office, Ed peered around the door and spotted one lone person still in the office. He grinned before he strode inside, Alphonse and Havoc right behind him.

"Hey, Miss Sheska!" he greeted happily, causing the mousey brunette to jump slightly and whirl to face the speaker.

"Edward!" she gasped and rounded her desk to greet him with a hug. "I didn't realise you'd be dropping by today. How are you? How's the team?" Her voice grew quieter as she spoke and her brown eyes turned sad before she greeted Alphonse and Havoc.

"I'm good and the team's okay, but it's been a rough morning," Ed admitted. "We're actually here to grab a couple of things from Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, so this is only a quick visit, I'm afraid."

She gave him an understanding and knowing smile. "That's alright, Ed. Do you guys know what you need, or do you want some help? The lieutenant colonel is out of the office right now, you see."

"I figured he was, since he didn't come out to greet us," Ed replied. "He told me where to find what we need, so I think we'll be alright, but if we need anything, I'll let you know." He smiled and Sheska shooed him towards the door to the inner office with a matching smile.

It didn't take them long to find the boxes since they were right where Brookes had told them they would be. However, there were eight large boxes and only three of them. They managed, with Havoc and Ed each taking three boxes and Al took the last two. It was a little awkward, but they filed out carefully, Al pulling the door closed as he was the last one out of the room.

"Thanks, Miss Sheska! We'll see you later!" Ed called, looking back and smiling.

"Are you alright with all of that?" she asked, looking at them with worry.

"Yup. See you, Miss Sheska!" Ed called.

"Oh, Edward?" she called out. He paused and turned back and she smiled a genuine, warm smile. "Congratulations on your promotion. You deserve it."

"Thanks," Ed said, barely catching her goodbye as they headed out of the office. Sheska shook her head as she sat back down at her desk and dug into her own lunch with a smile. They'd managed to take all the boxes Brookes had set aside for them so they could try and save Brigadier General Mustang. Her boss would be able to relax a little, knowing that someone who wasn't under the generals' thumbs would be able to investigate what he couldn't.

* * *

Havoc almost literally bumped into Falman and Brookes on the way to the office. Brookes looked at the boxes in their arms before pretending he didn't see them at all. He looked at Edward. "Can you seal the bag the gloves are in, please?"

Falman produced the bag. Ed eyed the gloves before placing the boxes he was carrying on the ground and reaching out to take them from Falman. It was a simple plastic bag, completely clear with a label that indicated what was inside the bag, the appropriate case number, and a signature from the person who put the gloves in the bag, as well as Brookes' own signature. A clap later had blue energy dancing over the bag before Ed handed it to Brookes.

"What did you do to it?" Brookes asked when he couldn't see a difference, slightly impressed.

"Anyone who opens that bag before I've dismantled the trap will cause the gloves to explode and burn," Ed said.

Brookes looked mildly intrigued. "Thank you, Edward." He eyed the boxes. "I hope you and your team enjoy your lunch. I'll leave you to it." He placed the bagged gloves in his pocket. "Oh, by the way, Mustang is allowed visitors during the day. Visiting hours begin at nine in the morning and go until eight in the evening. He's being held in the cells here at Central Command, rather than down at the prison, and he's allowed books and newspapers, just nothing to write or draw with." He shook his head. "I need to go and find a secure spot for these gloves. I look forward to returning them to the general when this is all over." He started down the hall towards his office. Falman started to follow, but Ed shook his head.

"He has a safe in his office. He'll put them in there," Ed told him before nodding at the boxes. "Give us a hand and let's get these files back to the office." Falman took one box from Ed's pile and one from Havoc's and helped them carry the boxes back to the office.

Hawkeye, Breda, and Fuery all looked up when they entered and came over to relieve them of a box each, with the exception of Ed, who just carried both of his boxes over to his never-used desk and dumped them on top. While Hawkeye set to work sorting through the files to see which box contained what, the men all quickly finished the last bit of cleaning and organising that needed to be done. With the last of the scattered paperwork filed, they turned to Hawkeye, who had assignments for all of them save Ed.

"You need to get back to Gracia's and then head for the train station, sir. Your train leaves at two o'clock. I already called down to the motor pool and there will be a car waiting for you."

Ed glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was just past one o'clock. "Alright. I'll be back on the first train back from Resembool tomorrow, and I'll come straight back here. Make sure Al signs whatever paperwork he needs to so he can't be kicked off the base."

"You stay safe," Al said as he hugged Ed goodbye. After so many years of travelling with Ed on his missions, he didn't like it when his older brother left without him.

"You too," Ed said, squeezing him back. He let go of his brother, clapped him on the shoulder and waved goodbye to everyone before he headed for the car pool. As Hawkeye had promised, there was a car waiting for him and a sergeant, who introduced himself as Browning, to drive him to the Hughes' and then the train station. The drive to the apartment building was quick and they didn't talk beyond Ed giving him the address he needed to go to. Once he'd parked in front of the apartment building, Ed told Sergeant Browning he'd only be a few minutes, and was assured that he wouldn't go anywhere. Ed thanked him and headed inside.

"El? Miss Gracia?" he called as he opened the door and was greeted by Elysia clamping onto his legs and Gracia coming down the hallway, a medium-sized suitcase in one hand, her purse over her shoulder, and Elysia's suitcase in her other hand. "Hey, all ready to go?"

"Hi, Edward. Yes, Elysia just needs to go get her teddy bear," Gracia reminded her daughter and the girl gasped before racing back to her room. "How's everything at the office?" she asked while Elysia was busy.

"The office got raided this morning like I told you. Al and I were helping clean-up when the generals came back because they wanted Mustang's gloves to test them for evidence that he was in the alley where General Armstrong was attacked." Ed grinned. "They got the ones that Hawkeye said were the ones he gave her last night when he was arrested, but not before I gave them several conditions that had to be met. Brookes agreed to the conditions before the generals could pitch a fit. Also, I've been promoted to lieutenant colonel and you're looking at the new team leader until we get Mustang out, at least on paper. Miss Riza will still be in charge like she normally is, but this way no one can try and split the team up or prevent us from working the case."

"Well, congratulations on your promotion and new position, Edward." Gracia's smile was soft and warm as Elysia bounded up, her teddy bear clutched in her right hand.

"Are you taking us to the train station, big brother Ed?" Elysia asked as he took the suitcases from Gracia so she could lock the front door of their apartment.

"Even better," Ed said with a grin. "I'm heading to Resembool with you." The little girl gasped in excitement.

"Really?" she asked and Ed nodded. She cheered while Gracia looked confused.

"I'll explain on the train," Ed told her and Gracia nodded. "Now, we need to go or we're going to miss it!" They hurried down to the car where the two ladies climbed into the car and Ed stowed their suitcases in the boot before climbing into the car himself and telling Sergeant Browning to take them to the train station.

* * *

They arrived with ten minutes to spare, and Ed unloaded the luggage before thanking the sergeant and sending him back to the office. The man hesitated long enough for Ed to get curious and ask what was wrong.

"Sir, I was wondering…would you like me to pick you up from the station when you return?" Browning asked. Ed was surprised by the offer.

"Actually, that would be really handy. I'll be coming back tomorrow on the first train from Resembool," he told the other officer. Browning nodded, saluted, and then left when Ed waved him off. The alchemist turned back to the two girls. "Come on, let's get our tickets and get on the train," he said, preventing Gracia from asking the question she still obviously wanted to.

Ed had to glare at a few people who tried to weasel their way near the three of them when they were lining up at the ticket collection booth and he lifted his top lip in a snarl at those who were carrying notepads and recorders and heading in their direction. Ed grabbed the three tickets and gave Gracia and Elysia theirs before leading them to the train and following them aboard. His many years of travelling for the military had made him an efficient traveler, and it didn't take long to find the private compartment that Hawkeye had booked for them. Elysia was excited to have a whole compartment for them to use and she sat next to the window so she could watch the people going past. Ed shut the compartment door and locked it so they couldn't be bothered during the trip before he sprawled on the bench opposite Gracia and Elysia, closing his eyes tiredly.

"Edward?" Gracia called and Edward _hmmed_ an acknowledgment. "How come you're going to Resembool with us? I thought you were staying behind to help Roy?"

Ed groaned as he sat up, but he met her gaze readily enough. "Miss Riza got a phone call after we dealt with the generals. Apparently a military police officer stationed in Resembool arrested a group of strangers because they weren't from Amestris and didn't have any papers to permit them entrance into the country. According to what we were told, they didn't resist arrest or anything, but they asked that the officer call the Fullmetal Alchemist and have him come down to see them."

"Some of your friends got arrested like Uncle Roy?" Elysia asked with her huge eyes filling with tears as she thought about her 'uncle's' predicament.

Ed shook his head. "I don't know, El. I don't know who they are. I'm just hoping they're not Ling and his little entourage. I dealt with them once and that was more than enough to last me a lifetime. I'll know if they're friends of mine or not when I meet with them." He lay back down on the bench, wondering if he would be able to sleep since last night had been such a broken night of sleep as he heard the train's whistle and the conductor announce their imminent departure.

"Who do you think they are?" Gracia asked. Ed turned his head to the side and looked at her through half-open eyes.

"No idea. I know a lot of people who aren't from Amestris and could have easily snuck into the country. I know who it definitely _isn't_, so that narrows it down a lot," Ed told her and they fell into silence as the train lurched and began to pick up speed, its wheels rumbling on the tracks.

"Maybe it's someone who can help," Gracia said hopefully.

Ed nodded in agreement. "Maybe. It would be nice to have more hands on this case. I have a feeling the generals are going to try and push this case to be tried quickly." Gracia didn't look impressed at that thought, and Ed didn't blame her. Gracia pulled two books out of her suitcase and handed one to Elysia as Ed made himself comfortable on the bench, his red coat tucked around him like a blanket.

He felt the Lions press curiously on his mind once more. They had been silent ever since the generals left the office, not wanting to disrupt him while he was busy, but now they wanted to know everything that had happened, so Ed told them, bringing them up to speed and ending with the fact that he was on a train heading for his home town. None of the Lions had been impressed when he said that part of the reason for the trip was because of Gracia and Elysia.

"_Damned vultures can't let anyone have any peace,"_ Red grumbled and Ed agreed completely.

"_At least they're going somewhere safe and quiet," _Blue said soothingly. Ed appreciated her efforts to calm them all down. It made what he was going to ask a little harder, and the Lions all picked up on his hesitance.

"_What's the matter, young alchemist?" _Black asked, using her favourite nickname for him to try to soften him up enough to have him come clean. Ed _almost_ hated the fact that it worked.

"_Look, I don't want to ask this, but I need to. I can't have anything distract me while I try and sort this shit out with Mustang and the military. Please don't be mad but is there any way we can mute the bond so that I can't hear or feel you all as well I can? I don't want it severed completely, just muted,"_ he hastened to add, guilt rolling through their bond without his permission at the fact that he wanted the connection dulled. He felt the Lions' shock and mentally prepared himself for their reactions, convinced they wouldn't be anything good.

"_Oh, Ed, don't feel bad for asking us that! We understand completely!"_ Blue said gently, letting a wave of calm run through the bond, causing Edward to sag in relief, his breath leaving him in a sharp exhale. Gracia flicked her eyes up at him but pretended to not see how the teen alchemist's eyes watered suspiciously.

"_Blue's right. Besides, we would have been asking you the same question any way in another day or so,"_ Black told him, successfully turning Ed's guilt into curiosity.

"_How come?"_ he asked, brows furrowing as he tried to figure out what could possibly cause the Lions to need to dull their bond with him.

"_We will be going on several missions shortly, one right after the other, and will need to work without the risk of any kind of distraction. Given how often you get in fights, we were going to ask to mute our bonds so we weren't distracted," _Green teased lightly, causing Ed to scoff and roll his eyes.

"_It's not my fault that criminals are idiots who don't know when they're outclassed!"_ Ed insisted, relief overtaking his mind at the fact that the Lions weren't mad about his request. The Lions laughed at his defensiveness. _"Are you guys going to be okay?" _Ed asked, his tone becoming more somber. He didn't envy the Lions or their Paladins for having to run constant back-to-back missions. Even when Mustang sent him and Al on back-to-back missions, they at least had the downtime of travelling to rest in nearly every case, since trains were still the fastest method to get around Amestris. Blue, Yellow, and Green all cooed at him for the concern he felt about their safety.

"_We'll be fine. We'll contact you when we're done. If you've saved Mustang by then, we'll bring each other up to speed. If not, we'll wait for you. If you finish your mission before we do, knock on the bond and we'll know to bring the block down when we're done," _Black said decisively, and Edward found himself nodding along with the plan.

"_Do we need to mute the bond now though?"_ Blue asked a little plaintively, her tone making it clear that she was hopeful the answer would be 'no'.

"_Not yet,"_ Edward replied. _"I want to hear more about what's going on with all of you, and we've still got some time before the train gets to Resembool and I have to concentrate on these strangers and the case." _He was content to leave the bond normal until after he'd dropped the Hughes off at Granny's. It would probably be best to have the time it would take to walk from the Rockbells' house back to the village to get used to the muted bond, knowing that it would most likely be a jarring change after the past few months of always being able to feel the Lions in his mind.

"_So, what's been happening on your end? What are these missions you're going on about?"_ he asked, closing his eyes in order to focus on the bond with his friends. He smiled to himself as he listened to the Lions fighting over who would get to regale him with their stories first. As a result, he missed the fond look that Gracia gave him, pleased to see that her pseudo-son was so happy and relaxed for the first time since he'd been told about Major General Andrews' death and the suspicion that had fallen on Mustang. She was exceptionally grateful for the mental link that Ed shared with the Voltron Lions in that moment, despite how unbelievable the fact that it existed even was. She opened her own book to read as Ed conversed with his friends and Elysia watched the scenery outside the train window flash by.

* * *

_A few hours later…_

Alphonse groaned as he flicked through more crime scene photos. They'd been working for a few hours and Al was ready to tear his hair out. The pictures of the bodies were horrific to look at, but Al could feel his mind numbing to them slowly the longer he studied them. He wasn't sure that was a good thing.

"Everything okay, Alphonse?" Hawkeye asked kindly as she looked up from her own file. Havoc and Ed were the only team members not in the office at the moment, since Ed was on his way to Resembool and Havoc was getting a late lunch for everyone. It had only taken the captain a few minutes to prepare the paperwork for Al to sign so that he could become Ed's aide, so now at least the generals wouldn't have any reason to try to throw him off the base.

"I don't know," Al admitted. "I've never studied what fire alchemy does to a body, and I've never really paid much attention to what things look like after the general blows them up with his alchemy, so I don't know what markers I should be looking for to tell me whether flame alchemy was used here." He put the most recent picture down on the desk and leaned back to stretch his cramped shoulders. There wasn't much that he missed about his time in the armour, but the ability to work for long periods without having cramped and aching muscles was one of them. At the same time, he welcomed the sensation, after having been deprived of it for so long.

"So what do you need?" Hawkeye asked.

Al shrugged. "I just don't know. Flame alchemy, what little I know about it, isn't like any other alchemy. You don't manipulate anything physical to create it. When Brother and I alchemize something, we use physical materials. The only exception to that is whenever Ed uses his tracking array or the array he invented to pull moisture from the air. If you take a close look at any of our other transmutations, even the ones we weren't in a rush to perform, you'll see small marks that tell you it was made with alchemy. A good alchemist can minimise those marks; a great one can actually work them into the design of whatever he's making in order to hide them from someone who doesn't know what to look for. Fire alchemy isn't created like that. The only thing I can study is the remains of whatever the fire touched, and it's not like I've spent years studying that," he replied, his tone growing slightly more frustrated the longer he spoke.

"So you need someone who's an expert to help you? To point out the things you need to keep an eye out for?" Hawkeye asked and Al nodded sullenly as he glared at the photos. "First Lieutenant Breda?"

The portly man gave her his full attention. "Yes Captain?" he asked, looking between Al and Hawkeye.

"Please escort Alphonse to the holding cells so he can talk to General Mustang," Hawkeye ordered. "He needs to speak to an expert in flame alchemy," she added, giving Al a small smile. The blond returned it and snatched up the photos of the victims he had been studying.

"Yes, ma'am," Breda said before the two left the office, Breda leading the way. They ran into Havoc and told him where they were going before warning him that there had better be food left for them when they got back.

The walk to the holding cells took a little while since it was in a separate building on base and they had to go through several secured areas to access the door leading out to the building. Once they arrived, Breda nodded at the guard at the front door before stopping at the desk to tell the guard who they were there to see. The guard nodded and waved them through after recording their names and having them sign the visitor's log. They walked along the corridor, following another guard waiting past the first secured door to the area where Mustang was situated.

"Mustang, you have visitors," the guard barked before moving further down the corridor to give them some privacy, but still keep an eye on Al and Breda as they moved to stand in front of the bars of Mustang's cell.

The general looked unkempt and not like the neatly put together man Al was familiar with. Al honestly couldn't recall a time when the general had looked this untidy – even during Mustang's previous hospital stays. He was dressed in a drab grey prison uniform that didn't suit him at all: a long-sleeved, loose-fitting shirt and a pair of matching pants. He had a pair of white canvas shoes on and his hands were bound with a set of the restraints that had been specially made for alchemists: a hinged wooden board with holes cut into it for his wrists and a lock on the opposite end from the hinge to ensure the two pieces couldn't be separated. Al knew from personal experience how much the restraints hindered movement – and he'd been a soul bonded to armour when he'd had to wear them during their brief incarceration in Briggs, so it wasn't like he had been able to feel the weight of the wood, the way they could chafe the skin with any movement, or how they forced the wearer to sit or lie down in awkward and uncomfortable positions like Ed had complained about.

Mustang's black hair, which usually looked artfully disheveled, looked more as if it hadn't seen a comb at all that day and was flattened down in odd places from where he'd rested his head on the thin pillow or leaned it back against the wall. As they approached, Al noticed that he had what appeared to be permanent scowl on his face as he lay on his bunk staring up at the cinder block ceiling.

Mustang rolled his head towards the bars and took in the sight of Breda and Alphonse standing on the other side and the scowl vanished immediately, to be replaced by a look of confusion. "Breda? Alphonse?"

Al figured that was fair. He probably hadn't expected the two of them to be some of the first visitors he received.

Breda saluted solemnly. "Brigadier General Mustang, sir." Mustang waved the salute away.

"Don't bother, Breda. Until my name is cleared, I'm just Mustang, since my rank and command have been stripped away."

"How are you, sir?" Al asked and Mustang sighed.

"Bored, if I'm being honest. I'd almost welcome Hawkeye bringing me paperwork," he joked although his tone was more than a little morose.

"I can sympathise, sir," Al said with a small smile of solidarity. "The holding cells at Fort Briggs weren't that entertaining either."

"Yeah, I think I would rather be here than in Fort Briggs' cells. Speaking of which, has there been any word on Lieutenant General Armstrong's condition?" The question sounded casual, but Al could hear the tension in Mustang's voice. If General Armstrong died, he'd be charged with six murders and it would make things even worse.

"She's still in a coma, sir. Dr. Evans told me they likely won't wake her until tomorrow, but so far her prognosis is good. They're still monitoring her head wound carefully and none of her other wounds are as potentially dangerous," Breda told him. Mustang nodded and no one spoke for a second.

"So what's happened since last night? My lawyer hasn't been here today yet, and he couldn't tell me much when the generals were trying to interrogate me."

"We got to witness Fullmetal verbally slaughter the generals," Breda told him and Mustang grinned. "It was glorious." Breda returned the grin when Mustang let out a bark of laughter.

"Considering some of the rants I've witnessed from him over the years, I can only imagine. Did everything go as Hawkeye and I planned?" he asked Al.

Al nodded. "They tried to use their rank to threaten Brother into behaving, threatening him with disciplinary action if he didn't. He told them about his contract and his promotion." He raised an accusing eyebrow at Mustang, who grinned innocently back. "Then they tried to split the team and Brother handed them the signed change of leadership form, which really made them mad. Their last attempt to get one over on Brother was telling him that civilians – meaning me – weren't permitted to look at any military files, including open criminal cases. Brother hired me as his personal aide on the spot."

Mustang's grin didn't dissipate. "I would've paid good money to witness that, especially his reaction to the promotion." He chuckled before he sighed again and returned his attention to the ceiling. "Where is Fullmetal? I figured he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to see me in a jail cell." He glanced over at Al and something about the younger Elric's expression must have clued him in that something was up. He pushed himself upright and focused his full attention on Al.

"Brother's left for Resembool," Al told him. "We got a call from the military police there. They said some strangers turned up and asked for Brother but got arrested because they didn't have the appropriate papers to be in the country."

Mustang frowned. "Why didn't he just order them brought to Central under escort? At his new rank, he has that authority."

"He's also escorting Miss Gracia and Elysia out to Resembool. They're going to stay with Granny Pinako until we clear your name," Al explained. "Brother and I had to go and get them from work and school this morning when news of your arrest broke. The media found out about your friendship with Gracia, and Elysia is always bragging about her Uncle Roy at school, so people put two and two together."

Mustang's eyes flashed with anger. "Are they okay?" he asked urgently.

Al nodded. "Yeah, but Elysia was really upset. Practically all of the teachers at her school tried to get information out of her and the other children were horrible. Captain Hawkeye and Brother anticipated that might happen and told her not to talk about you, but it didn't stop the other students from teasing her. One of the teacher's aides got her out of there and waited with her until we got to the school." Al shuddered a bit. "Miss Gracia is really scary when she's angry." Mustang huffed a little before relaxing slightly although Al could still see the anger in his expression. "Since Granny Pinako agreed to let them stay and they were taking the train this afternoon, Ed decided to go with them and meet the Resembool officers and deal with the situation there. He'll be back on tomorrow morning's train."

"Makes sense," Mustang said, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "So why are you two here?"

"I need your help," Al said and held up the photos he'd brought with him. Mustang stood and moved to the bars and Al passed the photos through to him. Mustang flipped through them once before giving Al an inquiring look. "I need you to tell me what I should be looking for to prove fire alchemy wasn't used at these scenes. Brother asked me to go over the photos to see if I can spot signs of your alchemy – or any alchemy in general – but I don't know enough about flame alchemy to tell the difference between your fire and a normal fire. Captain Hawkeye suggested I talk to you since you're the only person who could tell the difference and she said you could explain it to me."

Mustang nodded and studied the pictures more carefully while Al and Breda waited patiently. Finally, he pulled one of the photos out of the stack and held it out for Al to take. "Here, look at this one, Alphonse."

Al took the photo back and studied it. It was of the third victim, Colonel James Summers. Al looked at the photo, not sure what he should be seeing and then back at Mustang.

Mustang shook his head. "The burn pattern is wrong. The area around the head and chest are far more burnt than the other parts of him. It's like something was poured on him. It's the same with all the others. It takes extreme heat to burn a human body this thoroughly, and the fire would have to be going for less than, but not much longer than, an hour to show this level of burn but not have the body be completely destroyed. When I have to use my alchemy to kill someone, I make it as quick a death as I possibly can. My fire is as hot as possible – hotter than necessary, in fact – and the burns are evenly spread." Mustang tapped the photos. "Honestly, if I had killed them, there wouldn't be this much of them left."

Al's stomach clenched a little at that admission. Ed had told him what he had learned about the Civil War from Hawkeye, including what the Flame Alchemist was capable of, and Al had experienced it first hand when the alchemist had killed Lust and helped in the final battle with Father. But Mustang rarely spoke about using his flame alchemy to kill, so to hear him admit his capabilities so openly was somewhat distressing and sickening, but he fought to hide his reaction.

If Mustang noticed, he didn't say anything or acknowledge Al's inner struggle. "Another thing you should keep your eye out for is the scorch marks or an obvious point of origin for the fires. Any point of origin for an explosive fire like I use in combat is going to have a circle of soot, ash, and scorch marks at the center of the explosion with more scorch marks radiating outwards in all directions since I make a point to keep my explosions as contained as possible to minimize damage to the surrounding area. If the fire is moving, the scorch marks will be heavier and darker as they move away from where I would be standing."

Al frowned, and looked at the picture again. He'd brought photos of the victims, but not the surrounding scenes, so it was hard to tell what the scorch marks under the bodies looked like. "So…if the entire alley is covered in ash and soot it would be safe to assume that it was a normal fire, and not one of yours?"

Mustang nodded. "If the person was on the ground and I was standing directly over them, the burn pattern on the ground would be almost completely circular, although it would be a little lighter right in front of where I'm standing, since I'm not going to set off an explosion in my own face. If they were standing and I was standing in front of them, I'd direct the fire towards them and away from me, so the scorch marks would likely be heaviest directly behind the body, since that was the direction where I aimed the fire. The right and left side would probably show charring and scorch marks, and the area in front of the body would be relatively clear. But, like in this photo," he tapped the one Al was holding again, "you can see that the scorch marks aren't evenly distributed. Some areas are darker than others, and that tells me that some sort of accelerant was used and the darkest areas show where the accelerant settled on or around the victim."

"But there aren't any actual markings like when Brother and I transmute something?" Al asked and Mustang shook his head.

"I'm not going to share the secrets of flame alchemy with you, Al. Not here and not now. But it's not as easy as looking for the marks that show something was deconstructed and then reconstructed. You have to understand how fire behaves and how I use my alchemy to be able to see the difference."

Al thought about that for a moment as he accepted the pictures back from Mustang. Absently, his hands moved along the edges, pushing them back into a neat stack as he thought about the new information. "Okay. Are there any cases in the military archives where you've absolutely had to use alchemy to stop someone and the military would have taken photos of the victims and the scenes?"

Mustang nodded. "Yes, there's a few. Hawkeye would be able to pull the files, since most of them were in the first couple of years after Ishval, before I took over more administrative responsibilities and before Fullmetal was certified as a State Alchemist. Why?"

"I'm going to get her to pull them and then I'm going to study the pictures so I can find the differences," Al said. Both Mustang and Breda look surprised.

"Good thinking Al," Breda said and Mustang nodded.

"He's right. Coordinate with my lawyer once you've gotten the results. He'll be able to use your analysis as evidence in my defense."

"Of course. Does Captain Hawkeye know how to get in contact with him?"

Mustang nodded. "Yes, she does. She's the one who called him to meet me here last night after they arrested me. Was there anything else?"

Al shook his head and after a moment of thought, so did Breda. For a moment, Al thought he saw a flash of disappointment in Mustang's eyes, but he couldn't be sure because it was gone before he could get a good look at the older man's face. Acting on a hunch, however… "Do you need or want anything, sir?"

Mustang sighed. "Nothing you and the team aren't already doing," Mustang said, managing a half-smile as he turned and moved back to the bunk, sitting down and leaning against the wall. "Tell your brother not to destroy my office."

Al chuckled a little bit. "No, because then I'd be putting ideas in his head and he really _would_, just to get back at you for keeping the promotion paperwork." Both Breda and Mustang laughed at the truth of that statement. "We should get back though. Thank you for your help, sir. I'll look at some of your old cases and see what I can find."

"Anytime, Al. Good luck, and step lightly," Mustang warned. "If Ed's in Resembool for the night, he's not going to be here to protect all of you. Keep your heads down until he gets back." Both men nodded before leaving, the guard following them back towards the front of the building. As their footsteps receded into the distance, he lay back down on his bunk, his hands resting uncomfortably on his stomach thanks to the weight of the restraints as he gazed at the barren ceiling and listened to the sounds of the outside world coming through the barred window.

* * *

_On the train to Resembool…_

It had been a long trip so far, marked by periodic stops at different towns between Central and Resembool. None were exceedingly long, but each one meant time sitting at the station waiting for passengers and baggage to be loaded and unloaded and lengthened the duration of the trip. At first, Elysia had been fascinated by all the activity, since she'd never been on a train before this, but by the second or third stop it had begun to wear on her and she'd started to become impatient, asking how much longer it was going to be.

Edward had fallen asleep about an hour into the trip, which wasn't surprising given the broken night of sleep from the night before; his long years of travelling for the military made him used to the motion and sounds of the train, whether in it was in motion or stopped at a station, so once he was asleep he didn't stir for the remainder of the journey to Resembool. Eventually Elysia fell asleep as well, lying on the bench next to Gracia, although her sleep was a little more fitful since she wasn't used to trains. Still, Gracia envied them their ability to actually fall asleep. At this rate, they probably wouldn't arrive at Resembool until well after nightfall.

By the time they reached the final stop before Resembool, she had settled for watching the stars flash past the train window and trying not to think about the reason why they were going out into the countryside or the trouble that Roy was in. She'd first met her husband's best friend after the two of them had returned from Ishval. She'd known, from Maes' letters from the front, that he and Roy had met at the military academy, although they'd started out as rivals until they'd eventually worked out their differences and become fast and best friends. Roy had even stood up as Maes' best man at their wedding, and he'd been flushed and embarrassed when Maes had declared that Roy was Elysia's godfather and honourary uncle. He was a good man, who hadn't deserved what had happened to him.

The next thing she knew, she was being woken by the conductor's voice announcing their imminent arrival to Resembool station. She leaned forward and cautiously shook Edward's left shoulder, not sure if he would wake on his own given how soundly he'd slept through all their other stops. To her relief, he responded to the touch immediately and stretched before levering himself up into a seated position and then got to his feet, ignoring the swaying of the train as he stretched again. Elysia grumbled a bit at the noise, but she settled back to sleep almost immediately while Gracia packed up the books and toys she and Elysia had used.

When the train finally pulled into the station, Gracia gave Ed a tired smile and gestured for him to grab Elysia while she collected their suitcases and they made their way to the closest exit from the train car with the handful of people who were also getting off at this station. To their surprise, there was a military police officer waiting near the train, obviously looking for them, because the moment he laid eyes on Ed, he snapped to attention and saluted.

"Major Elric?" the corporal asked as they approached.

"Lieutenant Colonel, actually. Effective this morning," Edward indicated he could relax and offered his left hand, since his automail one was holding the sleeping Elysia against his chest and her head was pillowed on his shoulder despite the hardness of the metal.

"My apologies, sir. Congratulations on your promotion. I'm Corporal Jon McBride. I called this morning about our detainees," the young officer accepted Ed's hand cautiously.

"Pleasure to meet you. I need to take these two to the Rockbells' house and then I'll be back to figure out who they are and what to do with them. I shouldn't be longer than two hours at the most," Ed told him.

"Yes, sir. Anything I should do in the meantime?"

Ed shrugged after a moment of thought. "If they want food or something to drink, give it to them. If not, I'm sure they'll be able to handle a couple hours more in the holding cell."

"Very well, sir. I'll see you shortly." McBride snapped another salute and left promptly when Ed dismissed him just as quickly as he'd done the first time.

"Let's go. Granny will probably want to be in bed soon," Ed said before leading the way through his hometown, using old shortcuts he, Al, and Winry had discovered as children. It was a long walk, as the Rockbells lived well outside of town, but the roads were in good condition, the night was calm and the temperature pleasant, so it wasn't the sort of burden it would have been if the weather had been bad.

Gracia, having never been to Resembool before, asked a few questions as they went and Ed told her a few stories from his childhood. His automail arm, not tiring the way his flesh arm would have, carried Elysia easily and she snuggled deeper into his shoulder and neck the further they walked. Finally, they turned up the lane that was the entrance to the Rockbells' property. As they crested the hill, the huge house came into view. It was easily twice the size of most of the other houses in the area, since it served double duty as a family home and an automail shop and surgical clinic. Most of the windows upstairs were dark, but every room on the lower floor had lights glowing golden beyond the curtains. Ed paused long enough to point out the hill where his family's home had once stood, but the dark of the night shrouded the remains of the burned-out ruins from view.

Gracia didn't ask many questions about his home, knowing that he and Al still didn't like talking about it. They climbed the steps up to the front door, Ed knocking, but keeping an eye out for flying tools launched by an irate Winry. He didn't _think_ she would throw anything, since she wasn't expecting him, just Gracia and Elysia, but with Winry he could never be sure. However, when the door opened, it was Granny on the other side of the threshold.

"It's about time you got here. Come on in. I've been keeping supper ready for you," Granny told them as she stood back and waved them in, her pipe still in hand.

"Thanks for doing this, Granny," Ed said as he walked inside, Gracia following suit. "This is Gracia Hughes and her daughter, Elysia. Miss Gracia, this is Granny Pinako." Ed introduced the two women before nudging Elysia awake. It took a few moments but she opened her eyes and looked around, her eyes slowly widening as she realised they were somewhere new. "Elysia? This is Granny Pinako. She's Winry's grandmother. You and your mum are gonna stay here for a little bit while Al and I try to get your uncle out of trouble."

The little girl rubbed sleep out of her eyes before leaning back a little. "Can you put me down please?" Edward nodded and gently lowered her to the ground, holding her until he was sure she had her balance after being asleep for so long. Once he released her, she wandered over to where Granny was standing next to her mother. "I'm Elysia," she introduced herself with a big smile on her face.

"Hello Elysia. I'm Pinako, but you can call me Granny, alright?" Granny smiled in return. "Do you want some supper?" When the little girl nodded, Granny pointed her over to the table before looking at Edward. "Winry hasn't eaten yet either. She's been working all evening on a new piece of automail for a client."

Ed sighed. "Yeah, that sounds like her. Want me to go get her?" he asked, dreading the confrontation with his best friend. He just hoped she wouldn't hit him with her favourite wrench this time. He didn't want to show up at the military police station looking like he'd just been beaten in a fight.

"If you would please, and I'll get supper on the table. She's in her workshop." Ed grimaced as he moved over to the stairs. He could hear Gracia offering her own gratitude for Pinako's hospitality as he headed for Winry's workshop at the back of the house. He knew the hallways well enough to maneuver them in the dark, not bothering to turn on any of the lights. He reached her door and knocked.

"Winry?" he called and heard the machinery in the workshop stop. "Granny says supper's ready," he said in case she hadn't heard him over the tools. He heard her heading for the door and took a couple of hasty steps back in case she opened the door with her wrench in hand.

"Edward Elric!" Winry shouted as she opened the door. A quick glance showed that she wasn't armed, but that didn't mean he was safe from her hitting his flesh arm. "The first time you call in months – months! – and you speak to me like that!" she raged at him as he tried to protect himself without hurting her.

"I'm sorry! Ouch, you crazy gear head! I said I was sorry!" he yelled back and the blows stopped.

"So you should be," she sniffed. She snatched at his automail arm and started pushing up his jacket sleeves, determined to look at it and growling when Ed snatched his arm back.

"Stop yelling already, you're going to scare Elysia. My automail is fine," Ed told her, hiding his arm behind his back. "I'm here because of Miss Gracia and Elysia, that's it!" He took a few more steps backward when she tried to grab him again. She leveled a glare at him, like she was trying to read his mind and he rolled his eyes. "My automail is perfectly intact – both of them – and working as excellently as Rockbell automail should be." Ed saw the compliment soften her anger a little.

"Good," she said with a sharp nod before heading down the hallway. "Come on. Granny won't wait forever." Ed rolled his eyes and followed, rubbing his bruised arm.

When he got down the stairs, Elysia had already launched herself at Winry and the two were hugging each other as Winry made her way to the table to give Gracia a tight hug as well. The three sat back down and as Ed reached his spot his mouth began to water as he realised they were going to eat some of Granny's famous stew.

"Easiest thing to keep warm on the stove since we weren't sure what time you'd be arriving," Granny said as Ed dug straight into the food, offering the quickest thanks he'd ever given.

There was plenty of small talk and happy chatter over the table as they ate. Elysia told everyone about her adventures and lessons at school while Gracia caught Ed and Winry up on the latest gossip she'd heard around town. Ed gave them a brief overview of most of his missions (heavily censored due to Elysia's presence, of course) and told them about the events that had happened in the office that day, including his promotion (which made Winry laugh, since she'd more than once listened to his rants about how he didn't care about his rank), and his taking control of Mustang's team. Winry and Granny expressed their concern at him taking on the generals like that, but he assured them he would be okay.

Winry didn't seem as certain, but she did change the subject to her apprenticeship at Garfiel's in Rush Valley. Granny told Ed about changes in the village – deaths, births, lands changing ownership. She ended by telling an interesting rumor about a group of strangers ending up in the Resembool holding cells and asking after the Fullmetal Alchemist.

"Yeah, I know. Part of the reason I came back. I've gotta leave in a few minutes to meet up with Corporal McBride and sort it out," Ed said when the two Rockbell women looked at him.

"I see. Well, I guess we can only hope that they don't mean Amestris any harm," Granny said as she waved at Gracia to sit back down. "No, dear. Winry and Edward can take care of the dishes. Why don't I show you and your daughter where you can put your things," she offered, already standing and moving towards the stairs.

"That would be nice, thank you," Gracia said as she grabbed Elysia's hand so she would follow. Ed and Winry started clearing the table.

By the time they'd finished the dishes (Winry washing and Ed drying so that he wouldn't have to get his automail wet) amidst much bickering between themselves about random topics, the three women were back and were sitting near the hearth watching the two teens.

"Thanks for dinner Granny, and for letting Miss Gracia and Elysia stay here, but I should head back into town and figure out the situation with the visitors," Ed told them. Elysia and Winry both pouted at him.

"Big brother, you're leaving?" Elysia asked sadly.

"Yes. I have to go and see who these strangers are and why they want to meet me and then I have to go back to Central to try and get your uncle out of trouble," Ed reminded her. She looked torn between wanting him to stay or go.

"But you'll be back soon, right?" she asked and Ed nodded.

"It'll be just like when I go on a mission, El," he assured her. "As soon as your uncle isn't in trouble anymore and we catch the bad guy, I'll come back and you and your mom will be coming home, okay?" She seemed satisfied with his promise.

"Are you sure you have to leave so soon? You just got here," Winry asked, upset she couldn't spend more time with her best friend.

"Yeah, I told McBride I wouldn't be longer than two hours and it takes nearly twenty-five minutes to get back to town," Ed reminded her. She sighed when she realised Ed had already been there for over an hour.

"Fine, but I expect Al to come back with you and a phone call to tell me when you'll be here so I can be back from Rush Valley," Winry told him, eyes narrowing in a threatening manner.

"Sure," Ed agreed easily. He'd just have to tell Al about calling Winry so his brother could remind him to do that. After all, Al _was_ his personal aide now.

"Are you coming back here to sleep, Ed?" Granny asked.

"I don't think so, Granny, but thanks. I'll probably get a room at the hotel in town, since I'm going to catch the first train back to Central in the morning," Ed stood and headed for the door. Elysia raced after him and latched herself around his legs.

"Bye, big brother Ed," she said sadly as he knelt down to hug her.

"See you soon, El. You be good for your mum and Granny, okay?" Ed said and she nodded. "I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise." He let go of the five-year-old and she nodded.

"Okay. I'll draw you and big brother Al and Uncle Roy lots and lots of pictures so I can show you when you get back," Elysia promised and Ed grinned.

"I can't wait," he said and she smiled brightly at his excited voice. Ed straightened and was enveloped in a hug from Gracia.

"Thank you for helping us, Edward," Gracia said as she released her hold on him.

"Any time Miss Gracia. I'll try and keep you updated when I can," Ed promised her and she thanked him. "Bye Granny. Bye Winry." He was glomped by the younger of the Rockbell women and almost swore when he nearly fell over.

"You had better remember your promise. If I find out you've been back and I didn't get told…" she let him fill in the threat as she let go of him.

"I will. I swear, Winry," he promised before she could actually voice her threat.

"Stay safe, Edward. I have a feeling this case will be more complicated than you think," Granny warned him.

"I will, Granny," he promised as he headed for the door again. "I'll call you when I'm back in Central and let you know what happened with the strangers. See you later." He waved and received more goodbyes as he headed down the lane back towards town.

**A/N - So many words in this chapter! Be prepared though because all future chapters will be roughly this length! Many thank to my lovely beta, PhoenixQueen, for her work on this chapter! In other news, I've nearly finished writing this story and ya'll will be looking at a total of 30 chapters at least until this story is completed so I hope you're prepared for that!**

**GuestP - thank you for review! Yes, Brookes is a good cookie and everyone should like Brookes. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well :)**

**As for everyone else, thank you to those who have been leaving reviews. I would absolutely love to hear from everyone who's read this story about what their thoughts are! Seriously, reviews make the author very, very happy! Until next week!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six –**

The first thing he did once he was back on the road leading into the village was contact the Lions and tell them he would be muting their connection now. None of the Lions sounded happy about it, and if he was being honest with himself, Ed didn't like the idea either. It needed to be done, especially since he knew what the Lions would be doing in the upcoming days.

Despite his intention to mute the bond quickly and get it over with – like pulling off an old bandage – the process was drawn out slightly due to the fact that all five of the Paladins and the two Alteans insisted on passing messages on to Ed through the Lions before they couldn't for the foreseeable future. Most of them merely wanted to wish him luck in helping Mustang out of his predicament, offering supportive and encouraging comments about how they knew he'd be able to solve the mystery. Green relayed a message from Pidge that he'd better not get killed in the process or she'd figure out inter-dimensional travel and would kill him herself. Lance had echoed the comment while Shiro had apparently tried to reprimand them. Privately, Black told Ed that Shiro felt the same way, which had Ed laughing before he gave the Lions his own well-wishes for their missions and told them he wouldn't be happy if he heard that any of them got injured. He reminded them that he wouldn't need to figure out inter-dimensional travel before getting his hands on them. There were a few moments of silence before Ed eventually forced himself to get it over with and after one more good luck comment from everyone, he muted the bond.

The effect was immediate and jarring. Ed hadn't realised how intertwined the Lions were in his mind until he'd dulled their connection enough that they'd have to yell or go off-line somehow for him to notice them. His mind was so quiet without them there and he shuddered at the almost-vulnerable loneliness he felt now that the bond had been muted. He allowed himself a minute to adjust to the overwhelming loss he felt – even though he was aware that they weren't actually gone for good – before he continued on his way back to the village.

* * *

The rest of the walk back to Resembool was spent thinking about who the heck was waiting for him in the holding cells. He didn't _really_ think it was anyone from Xing because he was certain McBride would've recognised them as Xingese and passed on the description. The same was true of anyone he might've met on any of his missions who could've been from Drachma, Creta, or any of their other neighbours. The Ishvalans wouldn't have been detained at all, not under the terms of the new treaty they'd worked out with Führer Grumman in the first month after the Promised Day had passed.

Ed continued down the road in silence, before blinking when a bright light hit his face and realising that he was suddenly in town. The walk from Granny's to here seemed to have flashed by. Ed shook his head and sighed before heading towards the military police station at a sedate pace. He wasn't in a terrible rush since he knew he wasn't going to be late. He rounded the last corner and caught sight of McBride opening the door to check for him. The other man spotted Ed approaching and immediately stood at attention.

"Don't bother with that shit. I don't care," Ed told him, flapping a hand at him to make him relax. McBride did so, minutely.

"Thank you, sir," he began but cut him off at the sight of Ed's glare.

"Ed or Edward. Fullmetal is fine as well," Ed told him and he nodded. The two of them stepped through the door and into the station itself.

Since Resembool was such a small town, the military police station wasn't big or impressive. There were six holding cells towards the rear of the building, with each cell being big enough to hold four people if needed, usually during festivals or celebrations when people tended to get drunk and rowdy. There was the main front entrance, which was where a receptionist would normally be during the day, plus a waiting area. Past that were the staff room, two interview rooms, an office, a bathroom, and a secure storage area for files and evidence.

"Tell me what happened?" Ed asked after a quick look around the front room where he and McBride were standing.

McBride sighed a little before remembering himself. "About two hours before I called you, these six walked into town from the eastern edge and found me while I was on my morning patrol. They asked me if I could help them, and when I asked what I could do, they said they needed to get in touch with the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric. I asked them where they were from, but they refused to tell me. They were surprisingly nice about it, but they just said they wouldn't talk to anyone other than you."

"Huh." Ed's mind was racing, trying to think of who that could possibly describe. He'd met so many people over the course of his missions for Mustang that it was hard to keep them all straight.

"I asked them to produce identification or papers that permitted them into Amestris, since they seemed to have slight accents, but they couldn't. I searched them and found that they were all carrying guns, and that concerned me enough that I arrested them and placed them in the holding cells. First I tried calling over to East City, since it's the nearest command post, but the officer I spoke with told me that you had been reassigned to Central after Brigadier General Mustang and his team had been transferred there two years ago. So then I called over to Central Command, but the receptionist I spoke with couldn't get through to the brigadier general's office. I don't know if someone was on the phone at the time or if it was off the hook, so I hung up and waited about an hour and tried again and got through."

"They didn't tell you anything about who they were or where they were from?" Ed asked. If the strangers had been armed with guns that definitely ruled out the Xingese, but not the Ishvalans. Problem was, the Ishvalans wouldn't have been detained for lack of papers, and McBride would have known if they were Ishvalan. McBride shook his head. "They're definitely not Xingese or any of our other neighbours?" he asked, not actually sure which answer he wanted to hear more.

"No, they definitely aren't," McBride confirmed. Ed sighed and scrubbed his hand across his face.

"Alright. Let's go and see who they are and how the fuck they know who I am if they aren't our neighbours or Amestrians."

McBride took the lead and headed for the hallway leading to the cells. Ed followed and they walked past the office, interview rooms, and storage rooms. Ed had expected the strangers to be in the first couple of cells, but those cells were empty. "You didn't put them in the first cells?"

"I put them in the back cells in case I had to use the others for delinquents or drunks, sir. I wasn't sure if they were people you'd want Amestris to know about," McBride told him nervously, like he suddenly wasn't sure he'd made the right call.

"Good thinking, McBride," Ed praised, making him relax once more.

They continued walking to the last two cells and when Ed was in front of them his jaw almost hit the floor as he realised who he was looking at. Sitting in one cell were FBI Agents Jennifer Jareau and Emily Prentiss. The next cell over held Agents David Rossi, Aaron Hotchner, Derek Morgan, and Dr. Spencer Reid.

Before Ed could recover from his shock and say anything, Morgan got the first word in. "So, this is how you guys greet newcomers? You toss them into cells?" he asked, a teasing lilt in his voice.

"No fucking way." Ed said almost immediately after Morgan spoke. McBride looked like he wasn't sure if his reaction was positive or negative. The gathered members of the BAU all grinned at his reaction though and it was only a few seconds before Edward's lips stretched in a massive, matching grin. "This is perfect! This is – holy shit! We've actually got a chance of solving this shitstorm before something horrible happens. Yes!"

Ed stopped suddenly as a thought occurred to him and he stared at the six agents with narrowed golden eyes. He clapped his hands, the familiar ringing echoing off the holding cells as he spread his hands towards the agents, letting his tracking array flow from his palms. His golden eyes suddenly glowing blue startled McBride into stepping back a few paces. Ed cut the transmutation after only a few seconds and his eyes faded back to their usual golden color.

"Sir?" McBride asked hesitantly, wincing as he remembered Ed's order from earlier only after he spoke.

"Let them out please corporal, and return their weapons to them," Ed ordered. "I need to borrow your office as well." McBride didn't hesitate as he grabbed his keys from his belt and unlocked the cell containing the women first before he released the four men.

"If you'll follow me," McBride said and Ed gestured for his friends to follow him. He was practically vibrating with excitement even as his mind was trying to work through how almost the entire BAU unit managed to get here from an entirely separate dimension when their dimension didn't have anywhere near enough alchemic energy available to it to even attempt dimension hopping. Then of course, there was the realisation of just how much help they'd be able to offer if he could somehow convince the Führer to let them in on the case, and of course the simple fact that they were actually _here_. McBride led them to the office and the BAU filed in. Ed started to follow before turning to McBride and pausing at the doorway.

"Corporal, would you mind calling the hotel here in town and booking four rooms? I know they stop taking bookings for the night soon, and I'm not sure I'll be done in here before then. Let them know the cost will be covered by the military," Ed asked, looking apologetic for even asking.

"Of course, sir. I'll leave you to it," McBride said, wincing again at the warning look Ed sent his way at the honourarium, but after a moment the alchemist thanked him before shutting the door.

"How the fu-" Ed was about to ask when he was suddenly attacked by Emily and JJ as they enveloped him in a massive double hug.

"Ed, it's _so_ good to see you!" JJ gushed before she let go of him. "How are you? How's Mustang? Is everyone else okay?" She asked each question in rapid succession, not giving him a chance to answer any of the questions before she was onto the next one.

"Easy, JJ! I'm okay!" he said as he was let go by the female agents and grabbed by Reid for a hug. He let go quickly and smiled at Ed before Morgan grabbed him with an arm half around his shoulders and half around his neck while Hotch and Rossi chose to simply shake his hand once he was released.

"It's good to see you again, Edward," Hotch said with a warm smile. "Now, can you explain why we were sitting in our briefing room with Garcia one moment, in a white world with a humanoid shape talking to us in the next, and then suddenly waking up in the middle of a dirt road in a rural countryside without Garcia anywhere in sight?"

Ed felt his blood run cold at the mention of Truth. "Are you all alright? None of you are hurt or bleeding anywhere are you?" he demanded insistently, suddenly terrified that his friends had been forced to pay a toll to get here.

The agents all exchanged confused looks. "No, we're all fine, Edward. Confused, but no one's hurt, not at all," Rossi assured him. "What's going on?"

Edward breathed a sigh of relief. "What did the humanoid in the white void say to you? What were its _exact_ words?"

Hotch still looked confused, but answered readily enough. "It welcomed us to its dimension. It told Garcia that her skill-set wasn't needed where we were going and it suggested that she use it the moment she got back. After that, it told us that it needed us to help right a wrong, and if we weren't able to there would be immense consequences which it couldn't allow. It said it would be sending us to see some old friends and told us to tell them that the return trip would be the reward for a job well done." The other agents nodded in agreement. "After that, we were dragged through a massive set of stone gates and we woke up in the middle of a country road."

"It _definitely_ said the return trip would be the reward, so long as you lot manage to do whatever job it sent you here to do? It said _those_ words, _exactly_?" Ed pressed, needing to know with absolute certainty.

Reid nodded. "Those were its words exactly, Ed," he promised. "You know how good my memory is."

"It didn't mention anything about you having to pay a toll?" Edward asked, still frightened that Truth had some trickery up its nonexistent sleeves where his friends were concerned. He raked his gaze over them intently looking for any sign of blood or missing limbs – anything that would indicate that Truth had taken something from them that they might not be aware of yet – although considering they had showed up this morning, surely they would have noticed if any of them were missing something by now.

"No, there wasn't any mention of a toll, Edward. Why?" Prentiss asked.

Ed breathed a sigh of relief. "You met Truth. I know I mentioned it the first time we met. It was the one who sent Mustang and me to your dimension to hunt Harding down. It's a tricky, conniving asswipe that takes sick pleasure in fucking with people, but if it swore that you would get a free trip home if you did what it wanted, that's good. Now, what did it ask you to do? Did it give you a specific mission?" Ed asked as the agents recovered from their surprise at having met Truth remarkably well.

"It only told us that something was happening that would alter the course of the future and not in a good way. It said it liked the course that events had been on recently, because it was a course that it wouldn't have to do much work to make sure something didn't happen to wipe out the entire planet. The course it's heading down now would create too much work in the future for it and it wanted us to deal with it," Morgan told him.

Ed's frown had grown deeper the longer Morgan had spoke, but when he finished the alchemist sighed. "Fucking useless, vague, staticky, sadistic prick," Ed swore viciously. "That could mean anything! I mean, I'm fairly certain I know what it was talking about, but you just never know with that fucking douchenozzle!"

"Edward, calm down," Rossi ordered, snapping the teen out of his rage.

"Ed, what do you mean? You think you know why we're here? What's going on?" Hotch asked as Ed took several heaving breaths.

"Mustang's been arrested for five counts of murder and one count attempted murder. Most of the generals who are part of the high command are out for his blood and are trying to push for him to be court-martialed as soon as possible so they can get one of the biggest threats to their positions out of the way. Lieutenant Colonel Brookes isn't one of those out for Mustang to fry, but he did his job way too well and everything pointed to Mustang, so Brookes had to arrest him. Didn't help his case when Mustang couldn't provide an alibi for any of the six nights in question. Now Mustang's stuck in the military holding cells while the rest of his team and I are trying our best to get him out. But from what little I saw of the case files so far, it's a solid fucking case and Mustang's fucked if we don't find something they can't claim we fabricated," Ed said in one massive breath.

"Wait, what?" Morgan asked, just before a knock at the door sounded.

"Yeah?" Edward called and McBride opened the door and stepped into the room.

"Sorry to interrupt, Fullmetal, sir, but I just wanted to let you know your rooms are booked and the hotel has asked me to remind you they won't be accepting late check-ins in half an hour's time," McBride said.

Ed nodded. "Thanks, corporal. We'll be out of your hair soon. Can you give us a few more minutes alone?"

"Of course, Fullmetal, sir," he said, shutting the door and walking away.

"Look, the train won't be leaving here until seven tomorrow morning and we'll have at least five hours to talk about this situation in its entirety, but the short of it is that I could really use your help making sure Mustang doesn't end up on the wrong side of a firing squad," Ed said tiredly, holding back a sigh. The agents all exchanged looks and nods of agreements.

"Of course we'll help," Hotch told him. "I think it's your turn to ask us for help anyway," he added and Ed laughed wearily.

"Yeah, probably. Come on. We'll pick up your weapons from McBride and then head to the hotel before they won't let us check in." Ed pulled open the office door and ushered everyone out.

* * *

They found McBride waiting in the front entrance. The agents' weapons and other possessions were laid out on the receptionist's desk. He straightened as soon as he saw Ed and they all saw the obvious reflex to salute he made before remembering what Edward had said earlier about that sort of thing. He was watching all of the BAU with careful eyes before letting his gaze fall back to Edward again.

"Are you taking custody of them, Fullmetal, sir?" McBride asked and Ed figured he wasn't going to win the fight to stop him from calling him 'sir' without resorting to pulling rank and he didn't want to do that.

"Yes. You did good keeping them here and calling me. Thank you, corporal," Ed praised easily. He was glad the corporal hadn't just stuck them on the train with instructions to head to Central and ask for him there. He gestured towards the desk and the agents retrieved their weapons and possessions, checking them quickly before holstering them and turning to Ed to indicate they were ready.

"Thank you, sir," McBride saluted. "You have a good night, sir," he added as he unlocked the door to let them out.

"You too, McBride," Ed said with a wave as he led the group towards the hotel.

"Do we have to call you 'sir' as well?" Morgan teased him.

"Oh, shut up," Ed told him, making nearly everyone laugh at Ed's scowl.

* * *

They reached the hotel only a few minutes later since it was just down the street from the military police station. Ed spoke to the teen manning the front desk and left instructions for whoever was working the morning shift to call his room at five a.m. to make sure they were awake. The boy nodded and scrawled a note before handing over the four keys and Ed showed him his pocket watch and telling him to send the bill to Mustang's office before leading everyone up the stairs.

"These are our rooms. They're nothing flashy, but they're just for the night. Pair off and try to get some sleep," Ed said, handing over keys to Hotch, Morgan, and JJ. "I'll be in this room. We'll get breakfast at the café near the train station. If you aren't up by five, I'll get you up," he added mock-threateningly.

"We'll see you in the morning, Ed," JJ said, squeezing his upper left arm gently before she and Prentiss disappeared into their room.

"Night, Ed," Reid said as Morgan offered a similar sentiment before they closed their door. Hotch and Rossi were the only ones left and they gave Ed a look he knew all too well.

"I'll tell you everything on the train. It probably isn't something we should discuss here anyway," Ed promised them and they nodded.

"Okay. Despite the situation, it _is_ good to see you again, Ed," Hotch said and Ed gave the two men a smile.

"Same here. Good night, guys." They repeated his goodnight back and went into their room, leaving Ed alone in the hallway as he unlocked his door and slipped into his own room. He didn't bother to do much more than slip off his boots and socks, placing his pocket watch on the bed side table and collapsing on the bed. He was asleep before he knew it.

* * *

The phone in his room rang, startling him out of his sleep. A glance at the clock in the room told him it was his wake-up call and he groaned as he stretched before getting out of bed and answering the phone.

"Yeah?" he asked with his voice still thick with sleep.

"_Major Elric? This is the front desk. You asked us to give you a call at five a.m. this morning." _The lady sounded far perkier than she should have for this hour. It took him a moment to realise she'd used the wrong rank, but then he remembered that he didn't care.

"Okay. Thank you, Miss," Ed said, stifling a yawn. "My friends and I will be down in a few minutes to check out," he told her.

"_We'll see you shortly then, Major Elric,"_ she said. Ed hummed an agreement before hanging up and using his room's facilities.

He performed his cleaning array to remove the grime of travelling by train to Resembool, hiking the dirt roads to and from the Rockbells' house, and then falling asleep in them. He took out what remained of his braid, finger-combed out the snarls and tangles that had formed overnight and skillfully braided it back again. He pulled on his socks, shoved his feet back into his boots, and then grabbed his pocket watch from the bedside table and headed out the door. He bashed on each of the three doors belonging to the agents, waiting until he heard shuffling coming from inside or shouts for him to go away, before moving on to the next door and repeating the process. Five minutes later, everyone was out of their rooms and gathered in front of him.

"We need to check out and then we can go for coffee and breakfast," Ed told them, understanding their need for caffeine to help them function. "Just remember not to answer any questions if you can help it," Ed warned them before heading down the stairs.

"Good morning, Major Elric. I trust your stay was enjoyable?" the woman at the front desk asked as he handed the four keys back to her.

"Yeah, thanks," he replied, ignoring the use of his old rank. It was too early in the morning to deal with that kind of shit. "Have a good day, Miss," he added before hustling the agents out the door as she repeated the sentiment.

There wasn't much chatter and Ed was grateful for it. Everyone on Mustang's team knew that speaking to him before he had at least one cup of coffee in him was a bad idea because the filter from his brain to his mouth – as limited as it was – was completely non-existent before coffee. Thankfully, the small café next to the station took advantage of the early train to open its doors for early travelers like them to get the food and coffee they needed.

The waitress looked as thrilled as they were to be awake this early as she handed them menus and took down seven orders for coffee. Ed didn't think he recognised her as someone who was a local resident of Resembool, so he figured she must've been someone travelling through working for more travelling money or someone who thought Resembool was a good place to move to. She was surprised when he asked her if she'd had coffee already and shook her head. Ed handed her some money to pay for her to get herself a cup, since the only reason she was up so early was because of people like him. She thanked him and set about making the coffees while the cooks worked on their breakfast orders.

"That was nice of you, Ed," JJ said.

Ed shrugged the compliment away, a little uncomfortable with the praise. The agents noticed his discomfiture, so Reid changed the subject.

"What's the plan for today?" he asked.

Ed sighed. "It'll probably be a five- or six-hour trip back to Central City, depending on how long we get delayed at the stations between here and there. Hopefully the train will be running fairly close to being on time, but it's not a military train so there isn't any guarantee that it will. Once we get back to Central, there should be a car waiting for us. We'll stop back at Mustang's office and see what the rest of the team has figured out overnight and what's been happening. After that, we're going straight to the Führer's office to see if he'll allow you to help us so that those dick generals don't bitch about 'non-military civilians' working on military cases." He fell silent as the waitress walked over with some of their coffees. Thirty seconds later, she was back with the rest of the coffees and an assurance that their breakfasts would be out soon. Ed thanked her before turning back to the others. "Führer Grumman knows everything about the two times we've met in the past, and he's chill about it."

"You told him?" Hotch asked.

Ed shrugged. "Yeah, kinda had to considering the first time Mustang and I disappeared it damn near caused a national crisis. We're two of the strongest alchemists in Amestris, and the two strongest State Alchemists left after the Promised Day. With us disappearing into thin air like that so soon after the Promised Day? Grumman was the only one who was able to convince everyone we were on a secret mission of the highest priority from him. Of course, Mustang's team and my brother Al didn't believe a word of it, but they went along with it until we returned and they found out the truth. We owed Grumman for not letting a national panic happen, so we told him where we'd been."

"And he believed you?" Morgan asked, a little surprised.

"I don't actually know if he _fully_ believed us the first time, but he definitely did the second time, especially when I showed him all the stuff you guys sent me back with. Plus, there was the fact that Moore just would _not_ shut up about what happened." Ed groaned at the memory. "Since Moore wasn't military, he was tried in civilian court for the attempted murder of two State Alchemists. Grumman managed to find some people who were willing to testify that the death of his brother drove him insane and that his claims were the result of that insanity. The fact that he kept trying to attack Mustang and me when we took the stand didn't help his case."

A few of the agents snorted with repressed laughter. "So Moore's in jail?" Prentiss asked.

Ed nodded. "Yup. For a _long_ time. The judge ruled that he wouldn't be paroled until he was free from his delusions. Moore apparently yelled at him that they weren't delusions and that he was telling the truth. The judge somehow didn't believe him. It was a real mystery as to why," Ed finished sarcastically as their food turned up. They waited until everyone had their breakfast in front of them, thanked the waitress, and dug in, forgoing talking for eating as quickly as they could since they still had a train to catch.

* * *

Once everyone was done eating, Ed checked his pocket watch and saw that they had twenty minutes to get to the station, so he decided they needed to leave. He settled the bill and joined back up with everyone so he could lead them to the station. When they got to the ticket booth, Ed found he already had a ticket booked for his return trip and silently thanked Hawkeye for it. He bought six more tickets and booked a private compartment at the same time. Flashing his pocket watch, the bill would be sent to the military and they were given their tickets and free to board the train with five minutes to spare.

The compartment wasn't really designed for six full-grown adults and a teenager, but they managed to squeeze in and get reasonably comfortable. Morgan, Rossi, and Hotch sat on one bench while Ed, JJ, Prentiss, and Reid sat on the other. As they waited for the train to depart, any time one of the agents started to ask Ed to start explaining, he glared at them warningly and they heeded the warning. The conductor announced their departure and the train started pulling away, its whistle piercing the early morning air as it struggled to pick up speed.

Ed waited until the train was going full speed before speaking to avoid any chance that he would be overheard by someone passing by. Given what had happened the day before with Gracia's co-workers and Elysia's teachers giving information to the reporters, he wasn't going to take any chance that someone would be able to get inside information from him to share with the media.

"Here's the deal," he said finally, and all the agents leaned forward to hear him. "About a month and a half ago, a Captain Chase Bryce was found murdered in an alleyway, burned to death. The coroner initially ruled it as an accidental death, but after the other bodies started turning up he went back and double-checked his findings and revised his rulings. Mustang knew Bryce from his military academy days and the two of them did not get along in the slightest. Even worse, Mustang and Bryce had had an altercation the night Bryce died."

"A conflict the same night wouldn't look good, but it's not exactly decisive evidence," Rossi pointed out. "Even with a prior bad history, Mustang outranks a Captain, and he would have other avenues of recourse to deal with a junior officer that don't involve murder."

Edward nodded. "Yeah, and that's what Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, the lead investigator, seemed to believe as well. Sixteen days after Bryce's death, a State Alchemist named Major Colin Pardi was found dead in an alleyway, burned to death. As a State Alchemist, Pardi was directly under Mustang's command now that Mustang is the second-in-command for the State Alchemist program. Lately Pardi had been extremely vocal about how those who participated in the Ishvalan Civil War – especially Mustang – should be charged with war crimes."

"War crimes?" Prentiss asked. "That's a serious charge."

"It's a long story," Ed said with a sigh. "I'm sure you'll learn the whole story at some point, but it doesn't really matter. It's true that Mustang could _technically_ be charged with war crimes for his service during the Civil War, but it wouldn't have happened. After the Promised Day, Führer Grumman and the Ishvalan council of elders negotiated a treaty and one of the terms of the treaty was that those who fought in the Civil War would be pardoned since they were following the orders of a corrupt Führer and his high command. In the interest of preserving and strengthening peace between our two races, the Ishvalans agreed to the pardons. Mustang was one of the ones who received a full pardon for his actions."

"That's good to know," Reid said with an uneasy smile.

"So then, twelve days later, a Colonel James Summers was found dead in an alleyway, burned to death. Summers had made his dislike for Mustang known and was always claiming that he thought Mustang was too young and inexperienced to be a brigadier general. Any hostility there was solely on Summers' side – Mustang never even met Summers, as far as he can recall, and Brookes couldn't find any evidence that they'd ever met either," Ed went on saying after giving Reid a small smile. "Nine days after Summers was found, it was Brigadier General Aleyce Henley. Dead in an alley, burned to death. She was the most significant of the deaths to this point and the only one Mustang had a truly strong link to. Mustang and I had been calling for her to be arrested for hiding the plans for the Promised Day and allowing it to go ahead, resulting in hundreds of deaths that we could have possibly prevented if we had known the details that she had."

"But if he wanted her arrested, there wouldn't have been a reason for him to kill her," Morgan said. "And you said you were one of the other ones who wanted her arrested – were you suspected of being involved?"

Ed shrugged. "Not really. Brookes questioned me informally and had me sign a statement about my reasons for wanting her arrested, but it was really just a formality so if the killer ever goes to trial the defense couldn't use the argument that he hadn't looked into everyone who disliked her. Four days after Henley was killed, Major General Bernard Andrews," Ed's voice cracked a little here and they saw the brief flash of pain before he continued, "was found dead. Alleyway, burned to death. He was Mustang's direct commanding officer and one of the rare few higher-ups who was a genuinely good person. It was a well-known fact in Central that if he were to retire or die, Mustang would be the first choice to replace him."

"So the killer's M.O. changed from targeting Mustang's rivals and enemies to targeting the person whose death would most be a benefit to him? At least in terms of advancement through the military?" Hotch asked. "That's unusual. Serial killers don't generally change their M.O.'s without a really good reason."

"Mustang was formally questioned about all five deaths the day Andrews was found. Later that night, after he was allowed to leave the interview, a Lieutenant General Olivier Armstrong was attacked with the intent to kill, but the attacker was scared off by the sounds of someone nearby. It isn't a secret in the military that Armstrong and Mustang don't get along. They won't badmouth each other or try to tear each other down like some officers would, but they would be honest about their dislike of each other if you were to ask them. They were reluctant allies on the Promised Day, even though they didn't actually fight side-by-side at any point. Armstrong is also the kind of person whose reputation is more than enough to make people think twice about attacking her in any way. Only someone incredibly stupid or incredibly determined would dare try to attack her," Ed told them. "Mustang was arrested a couple of hours after they found Armstrong. The woman who found her told investigators that Armstrong had said her attacker wore a military uniform, a pair of white gloves, and created sparks with their hands. That's all the generals needed to hear to go to Grumman for an arrest warrant to detain Mustang on the suspicion of committing the crimes."

"So your theory is that Mustang is being framed?" Morgan asked and Ed nodded. "Any idea who?"

Ed shook his head. "No. Whoever it is has covered their tracks phenomenally well. Lieutenant Colonel Brookes doesn't think that Mustang did this, but his investigation hasn't brought up any other suspects who could be linked to all five murders _and_ the attack on Armstrong. Each of the victims had their share of enemies, but Mustang is the only one who can be linked to every single one. He hasn't had an alibi that could be verified on any of the nights when the victims died, and the fact that the victims were all burned is only hurting his case even more because he's the Flame Alchemist. He's literally the only one who could have been arrested for this. The _only_ reason Lieutenant Colonel Brookes doesn't think this was him is because of his gut instinct. Everything and damn near everyone else are saying it was Mustang."

Hotch sighed. "Sounds like we've got our work cut out for us," he said simply. "What else should we know about before we arrive?"

"We've got Brookes and Grumman on our side. The generals are all for Mustang facing a firing squad, but the two who are frothing at the mouth more than the others are Widdon and Combes. Yesterday they tried to stop us from investigating, but Captain Hawkeye and Mustang had come up with a contingency plan when it started looking bad for Mustang, so the generals couldn't do shit."

"What was the plan?" Reid asked.

"Me," Ed said simply. "I was promoted to lieutenant colonel, so I'm at the same rank as Brookes, and I took over leadership of Mustang's team until Mustang is freed and his command restored to him or until the Führer appoints a new commander to fill the vacancy. That way the generals couldn't force them to split and join other teams. Also, Alphonse is my personal aide now, so the generals couldn't kick out the civilian on the grounds that he wasn't hired by the military and therefore wasn't allowed access to their files," Ed told them before smirking. "But the really fun part was when the generals tried to pull rank and make me fall into line as a junior officer to them. They couldn't."

Rossi looked confused. "Why? Even if you're a lieutenant colonel now, they're still generals."

Edward nodded. "Yeah, and that's what was so fun about it." The confused look didn't abate. "Remember how I told you guys that I joined the military when I was twelve?" Six nods from the agents. "Our late Führer, King Bradley, added a special clause to my employment contract that states that I am only required to answer to my commanding officer – who happens to be Mustang – and the Führer himself. It was a form of protection so that other officers couldn't try to use the twelve-year-old alchemist to do their dirty work by pulling rank on me. Even though Bradley's dead – and good riddance too – that clause is still in effect, which means now I only answer to Mustang and Führer Grumman, unless I choose to follow another officer's orders. So, because the team is under my control, it means my orders trump any the generals can try and give them, so the generals can't order them to stay away from the case because I can order them to stay on it. They also can't order me not to investigate, so the team won't have to fear us being told to stop unless Grumman orders me to, but that's not going to happen. The generals' faces when they realised what that clause in my contract meant was one of the funniest things I've seen in a very, very long time."

"Congratulations on your promotion," Morgan grinned when Ed made a face at him. They all remembered how much he _claimed_ he didn't care about his rank, having refused all offers to be promoted on the basis that he couldn't give two shits.

"Are there any other details you can give us while we're on the train?" Rossi asked and Ed nodded. He started going more slowly through each case, trying to recall everything Mustang or Hawkeye had mentioned about them or what limited look he'd had at the case files before he'd had to leave to bring Gracia and Elysia to Resembool. The BAU team listened intently, only interrupting to ask a question, which Ed promptly answered before returning to the case overview.

* * *

Lieutenant General Olivier Mira Armstrong woke up groggy and confused, which was not a familiar or welcome sensation for her. She always woke alert and aware of her surroundings. As her vision and hearing came back into focus, she realised her family was there, calling her name. She felt the usual surge of annoyance that she felt whenever she was subjected to the side of her family that didn't care who else saw their emotions before the awareness of _pain_ hit her like a tank. Her blue eyes flicked past her family's concerned faces to the doctors and nurses who were watching her closely for signs of whatever they were afraid to see, and then beyond them to the white walls, hospital machinery, and the blue sky she could see through her window.

She started to sit up a little and couldn't hide a small gasp at the stab of pain in her chest and head, mostly because her mind was still slightly fogged and her normal iron will failed her. Immediately her mother pressed her gently back down.

"Let the doctors do their checks before you strain yourself anymore, Olivier, darling," Mrs. Armstrong suggested and loath as she was to admit it, Olivier listened because she realised she was too weak to try and sit up just yet.

At a word from the doctors, her family stepped back and let them flock around her. She felt them prodding her side and yes, there was the familiar flare of pain that could only be caused by a broken rib. She didn't let her pain show, refusing to let another sign of weakness through her walls. The doctors seemed to be focused on her head more than anything else and when Olivier mentally sorted through her various aches and pains, she realised that her head was absolutely _throbbing_. She was no stranger to head wounds, but this one was particularly bad.

While the doctors were fussing, Olivier cast her mind back to try and figure out what exactly had happened to her. The last thing she remembered was a worried face framed with long, dark, curly hair before she remembered nothing at all, so she cast her mind back even further. She knew she had been heading to Central Command for a late meeting with the Führer after an irritating dinner out with her family. She frowned as she tried to remember why she didn't make it before her mind helpfully recalled the memory of hearing something coming from an alley. She'd gone to investigate and heard a voice calling for help, but there had been something off about it and she'd stopped. Then she'd been ambushed from behind and she'd been struck in the head, despite her dodging the first attempt. She remembered trying to get to her feet so she so she could fight back but she'd been knocked back down after every attempt.

Then she let herself recall the details about her attacker, knowing she would be required to give a statement to whoever was investigating her assault once they learned she was awake. She remembered a military uniform and highly polished black boots. Her attacker was of average height and build, but the uniform made it difficult to guess whether they had been female or male since female soldiers had the option to wear pants or a skirt. Most female soldiers in combat or field positions chose pants for convenience and freedom of movement, whereas the skirt option was normally worn by women posted as secretaries or other non-combat personnel. But her attacker had worn white gloves and that _was_ unusual since most soldiers forwent the gloves except in winter or on ceremonial occasions. Then there was the fact that there were sparks coming from the gloves and that scratching noise.

This led her to only one possible conclusion she could draw. Mustang had tried to kill her. She had heard the rumors about his being questioned in connection with several homicides and her brother had been speaking about it at dinner that night. However, a part of her mind balked at the idea of Mustang trying to kill her. Sure, he felt about her in much the same way she felt about him. Both acknowledged the other as their rival on the military ladder and neither would go to bat for the other in the slightest. The extremely begrudging respect between the two of them when they had joined forces for the Promised Day was easily eclipsed by the much longer-standing hostility they'd shared ever since they'd met.

Still her instincts were telling her there was no way Mustang would've tried to kill her. It would've been political suicide for him if he was even _suspected_ of attacking her, and that wasn't even considering the fact that he would face a firing squad for it if he was actually convicted.

"Lieutenant General Armstrong?" A doctor's voice broke her out of her thoughts and she scowled as she realised her attention had wandered.

"What?" she asked – a glance at his name tag – Dr. Evans. He didn't look phased by her snappish tone.

"I asked how you were feeling," he repeated.

"I'm fine. What are my injuries?" she asked, ignoring the worried noises coming from her soft-hearted mother, brother, and younger sister.

"You've got a hairline fracture in your left wrist, a broken rib on your right side and an open skull fracture. We were forced to put you into a medically induced coma for thirty-six hours to avoid any unnecessary stress being put on your body in the earliest hours after your injury and so we could keep an eye on your head wound. Thankfully, you never showed signs of a hemorrhage in the brain nor was there any concerning swelling or infection at the wound site. Your vital signs were stable the whole time, so we felt comfortable bringing you out of the coma today," Evans explained. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I remember everything, including the attack," Olivier told him and heard her mother gasp slightly. Evans nodded.

"Good. That means the blow didn't cause memory loss, short-term or otherwise." He checked over a few things on the machines that were monitoring her condition. "Assuming you stay this stable until your stitches are ready to come out in a few days, you'll be permitted to leave," Doctor Evans told her and she sighed in annoyance. He pretended not to hear her sigh. "If you're feeling up to it, I'll inform the military about you being awake so they can send someone to question you. They have been most anxious to talk to you." Now Doctor Evans was the one who sounded annoyed. Normally she wasn't one for gossip, but this involved her and she needed to know.

"What happened?" she asked, her eyes narrowing at the Doctor and ignoring the pull on her scalp at the site of her head wound, even as she dared him not to answer her.

"You had just been put into the coma when two generals arrived with a lieutenant colonel in tow. I had told your family your prognosis and our treatment plan and was about to permit them entrance into your room when the generals turned up and demanded we bring you out of the coma so they could question you immediately, instead of waiting the thirty-six hours we were going to wait." She raised a brow in a silent question. "I told them it wouldn't happen under any circumstance and your mother had a few words with them. They left very quickly after that," Evans said with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Which generals?" she asked, her voice terse.

"Combes and Widdon," her father answered for the doctor.

Olivier nodded. "That makes sense. They are the ones who are most determined to have Mustang out of their way." She could feel a calm rage settle under her skin. While she didn't personally care about the lack of empathy the generals had shown towards her own person, she felt anger at the fact that they were so determined to get rid of Mustang that they disrespected a doctor and her family by ordering them to put her life and health at risk just because they couldn't wait thirty-six hours. If they showed that kind of attitude towards her family – a family almost as old as the military and involved in it just as long – because they couldn't control themselves when the chance to get someone they saw as a threat appeared, then what would they have done had she just been a civilian and her family just another ordinary family?

She might not like people, but she sure as hell wouldn't have acted that callously towards someone because the chance to rid herself of her personal enemy was within her grasp. The lack of self-control was what disgusted her the most. She barely heard the doctor saying he would check in on her later and leaving her to the tender mercies of her family as she seethed with annoyance at the generals.

* * *

Doctor Evans was true to his word and after checking on Olivier a few hours later, he called the Führer's office to let him know that she was awake and agreeable to visitors. Führer Grumman's secretary had been the one to answer and thanked him for the update and promised to pass the message along. It was less than an hour later when the same two generals showed up, with the same lieutenant colonel following along behind them, looking even more haggard than he had when he last saw the man.

"Doctor Evans," one of the generals greeted before they each handed him a letter. "We wish to apologise once more for our deplorable behaviour the last time we were here," he said stiffly.

"Yes, it was most unbecoming of us and we apologise if our actions or words caused you or your staff distress or anger," the other one muttered. Evans could tell these apologies weren't genuine but the result of them having been scolded, most likely by the Führer himself, if Evans was to hazard a guess.

However, "I accept your apologies," he told them before leading the way to Olivier Armstrong's room. "Wait here until I call you in," he ordered before pushing the door open and shutting it firmly behind himself, ignoring the two annoyed looks from the generals that the action garnered.

In the end they only had to wait a minute before the door opened back up and the doctor stood to the side to let them walk through. They barely looked his way as they strode in, with the exception of Brookes, who had thanked the doctor quietly as he passed. The doctor nodded at him sharply before speaking. "You have ten minutes before you must leave. Lieutenant General Armstrong isn't completely out of the woods yet and head wounds can be unpredictable when the person is exposed to stress. Am I understood?" Evans asked and the two generals glared at him but nodded. "Ten minutes," he reminded them, looking at Brookes in particular. The younger man nodded and Evans felt a bit better about leaving them alone.

Olivier Armstrong leveled an unimpressed gaze on the three men who had entered her room. She was ambivalent about Brookes, having never interacted with the lieutenant colonel before and only having what her brother had told her about the man to go on. Considering that she didn't put much stock in the opinions of other people, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least for the time being. But at the moment it was the two generals who had her full attention, and it _wasn't_ because of their rank.

"I assume you're here to ask the questions which you believed were so important that you felt the need to order my doctor to bring me out of the coma so that I could answer them," Olivier said icily. Both generals winced at her tone slightly before remembering themselves. Brookes looked appropriately apologetic as well, even though – by all reports – he wasn't the one who had done anything wrong.

"Lieutenant General Armstrong, would you please tell us what happened the night you were attacked, in your own words?" General Widdon asked. Armstrong could see the hungry expressions in their eyes while Brookes looked almost scared of her answer. She could tell he was afraid she would identify Mustang, and he wasn't sure whether he wanted her to or not.

"Brigadier General Widdon, exactly whose words do you believe I would be using other than my own?" she asked pointedly. "You don't believe that someone else - Mustang perhaps – could _possibly_ be feeding me a false story?"

He stiffened at the censure in her voice. "Uh, no, of course not, Lieutenant General Armstrong. I meant no offense."

Her blue eyes were dangerously narrowed, but after a moment she nodded curtly. "At roughly seven forty-five p.m. I was heading to Central Command to attend a meeting that Führer Grumman had requested while I was in town. The reason I am in Central at this time is because I was returning from a trip to Ishval to observe the reconstruction efforts going on out there. As I was walking from the restaurant my family and I had had dinner at, I heard a noise in an alleyway. I had initially dismissed the sound as simply a drunk or homeless person and was going to continue on to Central Command when I heard the noise again. This time it was clearer and it sounded like someone asking for help. Over dinner my brother Alex had filled me in on the recent killings that had been happening here in Central. Fearing that someone had been attacked and left severely injured, I entered the alleyway. I was partway down it when I realised something was wrong."

Brookes was quickly taking notes about what she was saying. The generals looked two moments away from licking their lips in anticipation of the juicy bone she was offering. "The voice calling for help was repeating the same words over and over with no change in volume, tone, or space between them. Someone had hidden what I assume was a voice recorder and set it to play to entice me into the alley. I sensed someone behind me and ducked in time to avoid the first blow, but made an error when I reached for my sword, having forgotten that I didn't have it on me at my parents' behest to not bring weapons to the establishment we dined at. My attacker took advantage of that error and struck me in the head. I went down. I gained my other injuries when I tried to get back up to fight back and my attacker struck me to keep me down. They stopped their attack and seemed to be struggling to light something when the sound of a door inside the building behind me could be heard. They tried a couple more times before another door, closer this time, shut inside the building. My attacker fled before the woman found me. I lost consciousness soon after that."

She sat rigidly in bed and didn't say another word, although she did take immense pleasure in watching the generals struggle to contain their anger and annoyance at her not having immediately given them what they wanted. She would be lying if she said she wasn't amused by their behaviour at the minor pettiness she displayed.

"Would you be able to describe your attacker, General?" Widdon asked, his voice grating as he struggled to remain respectful to a superior officer.

She raised a very unimpressed brow at his efforts. "Of course, General Widdon," she said coldly. Combes was practically salivating where he stood as he waited for her to say those magic words. "My attacker was of average height and build. They were wearing a standard military-issued uniform jacket, pants, and black boots, which were highly polished. They had on a white shirt under the jacket and white gloves. There was nothing distinguishable about what they were wearing. I did see sparks emitting from the gloves of my attacker."

Olivier leaned back against her pillows slightly. There were a few moments of silence where no one said anything, the generals clearly thinking she still had more to say. "Was there anything else you needed to know, gentlemen?" she asked and her question caused Combes to lose the fragile hold on his temper.

"Yes, there bloody well is! You need to name Mustang as your attacker!" he shouted at her. Brookes jumped at the increase in volume and even Widdon was startled by his fellow general's outburst. Olivier was the only one who didn't move an inch.

"General Combes, control yourself immediately," she snapped. As he took several heaving breaths and his face slowly changed from red to a more neutral shade, she glared at him. "You wish for me to go on record saying Brigadier General Roy Mustang was the person who assaulted me?" Combes nodded at her, as though she was an idiot. Her eyes turned frigid. "You wish for me to lie on the official record? I did not see my attacker's face. I could not pick them out of a line up. Hell, I can't even tell you whether they were male or female." Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I will not give a false statement for the official record just because my true answer doesn't happen to further your agenda."

"It was Mustang! No one else could have burned those victims or tried to set you on fire! You know it was Mustang! Just say it was him!" Combes demanded.

Widdon decided to step in when it looked like Armstrong was about to slaughter Combes where he stood. "What General Combes is trying to say," Olivier wanted to laugh at the way he was trying to sound so diplomatic and respectful despite the fact that it was clear he was just as eager for Mustang to burn at the stake as Combes was, "is that your statement is the only evidence we have that would physically tie the former brigadier general to the crime scenes. If you don't identify him as your attacker, the whole case could fall apart and a murderer would walk free and no one wants that. We wouldn't want something like what happened to you or the other victims to happen to someone else."

Olivier couldn't believe what she had just heard. Brookes looked almost as shocked as she felt. The _nerve_!

"Did you _really_ just try and _guilt_ me into giving a false report?" she asked incredulously. "Did you just try and guilt the same person – a superior officer no less – whose doctors you tried to order and intimidate into reversing a potentially life-saving procedure into giving you a false statement because you're _threatened_ by Roy Mustang? Did you really just try and manipulate a person whose family name garners more respect than you _ever_ will into naming a man who might very well be innocent just because you know how much political power he holds and you're _scared_ of him? I may not think much of Mustang, but at least he can walk around knowing he has never stooped so low as to try and manipulate an assault victim and ask them to risk their career to try and further his pitiful revenge campaign." Olivier's lips twisted into a snarl. "The two of you are pathetic," she sneered. "Get out and be grateful that I don't put you on report for attempting to falsely manipulate the outcome of a murder investigation. Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, you may remain if you have any further questions."

"Mustang is as much a threat to you as he is to us. Surely you must see that?" Widdon tried and Armstrong let out a bark of laughter.

"For Mustang to be a threat to me, I'd have to be scared of him." Her eyes narrowed angrily and she snarled at them. "Now get out and don't you dare come near me again."

Combes looked like he was about to physically explode with anger and Widdon didn't look much better. Brookes stayed where he was, not looking at the generals when they turned back to stare at him when they realised he wasn't following them. They wordlessly growled at him before shutting the door at Armstrong's pointed glare.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes?" the way she said his name told him she wasn't feeling very patient.

"My apologies Lieutenant General Armstrong. If you want, I can come back tomorrow to ask my questions?" he offered, but she shook her head. "Okay. Can you describe the voice on the recording? Was it male or female?"

"Female. My impression was that it was either a high-pitched woman or a young child."

He nodded, writing her answer down in his notepad. "When you said there was nothing distinguishable about the uniform your assailant wore, did you mean you couldn't make anything out because your vision was affected by your head wound, or because there was actually nothing about the uniform that made it different? There weren't any medals, rips, or stains that could be identifiable?"

Olivier thought about it for a moment before answering. "My vision was too blurry to see anything definitive about the uniform."

He wrote the response down before looking up. "Can you remember anything about your attacker's hair such as the color or the length? Was it long or short? Dark or light?"

"No. I don't recall anything."

"Your attacker didn't speak at all?" She shook her head. "Did you see the weapon they struck you with?"

"It was a simple metal rod – a piece of pipe I believe. There was nothing identifiable about it."

"You fought alongside Brigadier General Mustang during the Promised Day, correct? Would you say you would be able to identify his fighting technique with any degree of accuracy?"

"We were allies, but we didn't fight side by side," Olivier corrected. "He was leading the attack on the troops in the city, while I was fighting alongside my brother against one of the homunculi and the mannequin army created by the corrupt members of the high command. I would not be able to pick his fighting style out with any sort of confidence, although I do know that in combat he prefers to use his alchemy or his standard-issued firearm. I can say with certainty that Mustang is not the kind of person to strike an enemy repeatedly while they are down. Mustang may be an insufferable flirt, but he's not that dishonourable."

Brookes wrote it down. "If I came in tomorrow with your statement as you've made it today, would you be willing to sign it?"

"That would be agreeable," she said and he flipped his notebook shut and put it and his pen away.

"Thank you for your time, General Armstrong. Although it is not my place to apologise on behalf of a senior officer, I would like to offer my sincere apologies for the behaviour of General Combes and General Widdon. I wish you a speedy recovery." He saluted.

She let him hold it for a moment before dismissing him. As he shut the door behind himself, she leaned fully back against her pillows, her head throbbing with the anger bubbling inside her, wanting to be let out. The way the generals had behaved towards her was unbelievable. She growled at the lack of empathy and basic respect they showed, not to mention their underhanded tactics, and resolved to have a word with Grumman the next time she saw him.

There was another knock on her door. "Enter," she snapped before managing to control her tone of voice.

The door opened to reveal her brother and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The last thing she needed at the moment was her overly emotional brother trying her patience and her nerves. "Alex."

"Sister. May I sit with you for a few minutes before I have to return to my duties?"

"Only if you agree to tell me what has been happening while I've been unconscious," she replied. He nodded and took one of the chairs beside her bed, his palms resting on his knees.

"Brigadier General Mustang was arrested the night you were attacked Olivier, on suspicion of five counts of murder and one count attempted murder," Alex said solemnly. She raised an eyebrow at that. She hadn't identified Mustang as her attacker, so what other evidence could they have had that was worthy of issuing an order for Mustang's arrest? "Führer Grumman ruled that he wouldn't be formally charged with the murders until you had made your statement, assuming you identified the brigadier general as your attacker."

"Mustang's team? I doubt they'll be standing aside while their commander is in prison," Olivier asked and Alex nodded again.

"You would be correct, dear sister. Young Edward has been promoted to lieutenant colonel and has assumed control of the team. They've been investigating the cases as best as they can, however Edward has reportedly had to go to his hometown of Resembool for an unknown reason, but I believe he is due back later today," Alex dutifully relayed, before shifting minutely.

She narrowed her eyes at his obvious discomfort. "Alex, whatever it is you want to say, just say it. I don't have the energy or patience for your asinine behaviour."

"Sister – Olivier – I do not wish to sound as though I am hoping that Brigadier General Mustang is released if he is indeed behind these gruesome crimes and the assault which you have suffered, but I find myself unsure of what I should think. While I know that he is capable of burning a person to death – as he so aptly demonstrated in Ishval – I do not believe that he would rid himself of enemies in this way. Not if he could have washed his hands of them in more legal ways."

He hesitated for another moment. "Olivier, I implore you. Please, did Brigadier General Mustang attack you in that alleyway?"

Olivier wanted to sneer at her brother for his begging, but she also admired his bravery in asking her so directly. "I didn't see my attacker's face clearly, so I cannot be certain," she told him honestly. His face fell and she blamed the painkillers for the minute weakness she showed next as she softened her tone towards him. "But I do not believe it was Mustang who attacked me."

* * *

Most of the first couple of hours of the train ride had been spent talking about the case. Everyone asked as many questions as they could think of and Edward had answered them as best as he could, considering he'd only gotten to read the case files for a couple of minutes before he'd had to go pick up Gracia and Elysia so they could get to the train for Resembool. Ed still couldn't quite believe the BAU team was here, sans Garcia. He found it even harder to believe that Truth had sent them here, for what seemed to be an altruistic reason. He felt like there should be another shoe about to drop somewhere.

The rest of the train ride was them discussing the BAU's most recent cases and Ed telling them about some of his missions. He also told them about his most recent inter-dimensional trip and mourned the fact that he hadn't thought to grab his tablet so he could show them proof, but he swore up and down that he really had fought alongside five giant, sentient mechanical Lion space ships that he helped to transform into flesh-and-blood lions and their pilots, as well as an alien space princess and her overly-excitable advisor, as well as being able to talk to them and hear them in his mind. Reid looked torn between believing him and telling him he was crazy, and Edward could sympathise. The others looked like they thought he was crazy, but they were being polite about not saying it. He ended up promising them that they could see his tablet when they had a few minutes to spare.

They still hadn't run out of stories by the time they pulled into Central that afternoon. Ed stood immediately, used to the train's movements after his years of travelling on them with Alphonse. The others remained seated, not wanting to lose their balance and fall back down in the crowded compartment. When the train finally slowed to a stop, Ed hurried them to their feet and off the train and onto the platform with a warning to stay with him so they didn't get lost. They all had the same thought – that his red coat would be easy enough to spot if they did get separated – but they didn't say anything. Ed was obviously looking for someone as he headed straight for the street.

"Edward!" someone called from their left and all of their heads snapped in that direction. They saw a soldier with dirty-blonde hair walking towards them with a massive smile on his face.

"Brosh!" Ed said as he shook the man's hand. "I didn't expect to see you here," he said.

"Yeah, our department has a package arriving on this train, and Major Armstrong sent me to collect it. I spotted your jacket through the crowd. I thought I should let you know," his voice lowered and turned serious. "Lieutenant General Armstrong woke up earlier this morning and already gave her statement about her attack to the generals today. Judging by what Major Armstrong has said and the rumors going around Central Command, she didn't give them Mustang's name. The general told them she didn't see her attacker's face, but she did admit that she'd seen the person's gloves spark."

"Shit," Ed swore. "The generals will take that as proof of flame alchemy. They'll use the information to file formal charges and push for a court martial immediately. After all," Ed laughed humourlessly, "no one else can use flame alchemy. I doubt I could even make sparks if push came to shove as a way to prove that Mustang wasn't the one, if that's how his defense tries to play it. We've gotta get to Grumman _now_. Thanks for the info Brosh. I owe you one," he said, giving the older man a grin and heading for the street at an even faster pace while the BAU followed and Brosh shouted a goodbye.

Ed was looking even harder for someone, his face relaxing after a few moments. "Sergeant Browning!" he called. The man immediately snapped to attention, hand rising to salute, but Ed waved at him to stop. "No time for that. We need to get to Central Command ASAP," he told him.

The BAU didn't ask for introductions, and neither did the soldier. They all piled into the car, with Ed climbing into the front passenger seat so they all fit. Browning pulled the car into the street and headed for the base, barely obeying the traffic laws in his rush to get Ed to the base as soon as he could.

When they pulled up at the base in record time, Ed thanked him profusely and they all got out of the car and followed Ed towards the officers standing guard at the lower gate. He flashed his pocket watch at them and they snapped to attention, although they looked at the BAU team with a little more skepticism.

"Lieutenant Colonel Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, and guests," he stated, waving them to an at ease position. "I will be escorting them for the time being."

"Yes, sir, Lieutenant Colonel." One of the gate guards raised the barrier and Edward hurried through, the BAU team on his heels. They moved up the stairs to the main gates, where Edward again flashed his pocket watch and the guards opened the gate to wave them through.

"That watch is pretty handy," Morgan commented as they crossed the grounds towards the main building at a quick walk.

"All State Alchemists receive one when they receive their initial certification. Only State Alchemists carry them and they serve as identification of our position in the military since not every State Alchemist wears a uniform," Edward said. "It's considered a crime to possess a State Alchemist's watch if you're not an active or retired State Alchemist, punishable by jail time."

"Huh." Morgan said thoughtfully as they reached the main building and hurried inside, moving just under a jogging pace.

Edward led them through numerous hallways and up dozens of stairs before they went through a set of double doors on the topmost floor that opened into a large room with several couches and bookshelves, as well as a single desk that had a woman sitting behind it.

"Hi, Miss Samantha," Edward stopped in front of her desk for a moment. "Is His Excellency in?"

"Yes, but Generals Widdon and Combes are meeting with him at the moment and they aren't in a good mood," she warned as she eyed the group of strangers with Ed.

Ed smirked at her. "Good. You don't mind if I interrupt them, do you?" he asked. As she shook her head, Edward waved at the BAU team to wait outside for a moment before he strode over to the double doors beyond her desk. He rapped sharply on the door with his automail fist, careful not to leave any dents in the wood. He listened and heard Grumman permit his entrance. He pushed the door open, took two steps into the room, and saluted because, unlike Combes and Widdon, Grumman had earned his respect. Plus, he was fun to play chess with whenever they both had the time. "Good afternoon Your Excellency," he said formally, using his best manners. It was just too bad that Al wasn't here to see the proof that he actually did have manners.

"We're in a meeting!" Combes spat when he saw the blond alchemist.

"Good for you," Edward told him dismissively before turning back to the Führer. Grumman looked calm, but there was a slight twinkle of amusement in his eye. "Your Excellency, I have a favor to ask of you, and I'm sure these two will probably blow a fuse when they hear it," he added as a way to poke fun at the generals and to warn Grumman.

"What do you need, Lieutenant Colonel? Congratulations, by the way," Grumman said.

"Thank you sir," Ed dipped his head respectfully, enjoying the way he could see the generals growing redder by the second as he voluntarily showed Grumman the respect they had tried to demand from him. "I have some guests with me that I think you would be interested in meeting, as it relates to Brigadier General Mustang's case. May I admit them?"

Grumman nodded and Edward turned around and beckoned the BAU team into the office. They entered quickly, with JJ pushing the door closed behind her as she was the last one to enter. The team arranged themselves in a semi-circle behind Edward, with Rossi and Hotch in the center. "Führer Grumman, may I introduce you to Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan, Jennifer Jareau, and Doctor Spencer Reid?" He gestured to each person in turn. "This is His Excellency, Führer Grumman, and those two over there are Brigadier Generals Combes and Widdon. Combes is the one who's slightly redder." He was about to say more when Combes couldn't hold in his anger any longer.

"What is the meaning of this? Who are these strangers?" he demanded.

Ed turned an unimpressed look at him before looking back at the Führer. "Sir, these are six of the people Brigadier General Mustang and I met and helped during our first classified mission for you, and they're six of the people who helped us during the second of our classified missions." Grumman sat up straighter at this. "They arrived yesterday in my hometown of Resembool and I brought them back here since I was already going out there to take Mrs. Hughes and her daughter to stay with a friend of my family until Brigadier General Mustang is released from the holding cells and restored to his command."

Widdon scoffed at the last sentence. "Unlikely and I'm not hearing a reason as to why you burst into our meeting like an ill-behaved child."

Edward ignored him. "Führer Grumman, I would like to formally request permission to bring them on board my team temporarily to work with us to help clear Brigadier General Mustang's name and catch the real culprit behind the five murders – including Major General Andrews, whom both Mustang and I considered a friend – and the assault on Lieutenant General Olivier Armstrong."

"Führer Grumman, you cannot permit this! They are strangers! We can't trust them with our cases or give them access to our military! What if they're spies from Drachma or Creta?" Ed rolled his eyes at that and Grumman cleared his throat suspiciously. The BAU team had expressions on their face ranging from annoyed to offended to amused.

"This is just a desperate ploy by a child to try and get his commanding officer cleared so he doesn't have to move under someone else's control and have to act like every other military officer instead of as something special," Combes insisted, glaring venomously at Edward, who looked fairly bored with the shouting.

"I can alchemise their mouths shut," Ed offered, whispering out of the corner of his mouth to Grumman. The Führer shot him an amused, yet scolding glare, and Ed sighed. "Dream killer," he muttered as the generals continued giving even more ridiculous excuses for why the BAU shouldn't be allowed to investigate the case.

"Are you two done giving these people and Lieutenant Colonel Elric a prime example of how two highly-ranked military personnel _shouldn't_ be acting?" Grumman asked when they both stopped to take a breath. His question was enough to leave the two men spluttering in embarrassment, rather than continue yelling. "I would like the two of you to wait outside until I call you back in. There are a few questions I wish to ask of our guests and you do not have the clearance needed to be involved or to witness this conversation."

"Your Excellency, you cannot seriously be considering this!" Widdon ground out when Grumman turned his attention to Ed and the BAU members and studied them.

"Why shouldn't I? The defense is within their right to ask for experts of their own. I'm presuming, of course, that Lieutenant Colonel Elric and his team are currently acting for the defendant?" Edward nodded immediately. "As for your concern about them being spies – which was the only decent reason to be worried about them that I heard from you – I assume Lieutenant Colonel Elric checked them himself?" he continued. Again, Edward nodded.

"Yes, sir. I used my tracking array. As everyone knows, the array I created identifies life forces. Each person has a unique life force, like a fingerprint. Even if the Drachmans or Cretans had managed to create some sort of fantastic technology to disguise their countrymen as people whom no Amestrian – Mustang and myself excluded – has ever met, they wouldn't be able to disguise their life force." Ed's tone was an interesting mix of respectful towards Grumman, yet still had a hint of exasperation and disdain over how ridiculous he thought the two generals were being.

"As I thought," Grumman replied before focusing his attention back on the generals. "Generals, I believe I asked you to leave. On the very slim chance that he is wrong, I believe Lieutenant Colonel Elric and I will both be capable of holding them off long enough for the two of you to come back in and assist, should they prove to be a danger to myself or the military."

"Very well, Your Excellency. We will remain outside until you call for us to come back in so we can resume our meeting," Widdon said, voice shaking as he fought to remain as calm as possible. They watched the two men leave, shutting the door loudly behind them before the agents and Edward turned back to the Führer.

"So," Grumman said as he leaned back in his chair and observed the group in front of him, "who would like to explain to me exactly how people from another dimension ended up in Amestris?" His eyes were calm, but curious behind his glasses.

"It was Truth, sir," Edward said. Grumman sat back up at his words, his eyes looking more serious and intent. "Truth grabbed them while they were in a meeting back at their own office, sir. It told them it needed them to do a job for it; that the course Amestris would be sent on if events were allowed to continue in the direction they were moving was not one Truth wanted because it would have to do more work." Ed rolled his eyes a little. "It believes the BAU is the best choice for righting that wrong. Considering their training and careers in America, I can only think of one thing happening right now that they would be suited to assisting us with."

Grumman caught on immediately. "You believe they were sent here because of Brigadier General Mustang."

Ed nodded. "Yes, sir."

Grumman's gaze moved to the six agents arranged behind Ed. "If I may ask, what are your qualifications?"

Edward looked back over his shoulder at Hotch and invited him forward with a nod of his head. Hotch took the invite and stepped forward to stand next to Edward.

"In America, we are agents of our federal government, through an agency known as the FBI – the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Specifically, we work for the Behavioural Analysis Unit assisting smaller police departments in apprehending dangerous criminals. We come in by invitation only, and all credit for the apprehension of a criminal goes to the law enforcement office that requested our assistance."

Grumman frowned, as though he didn't understand. He glanced between Hotch and Ed and Ed finally stepped in when Hotch didn't continue.

"Basically, they're Investigations, sir, if Investigations was separate from the military and your direct control, sir," Ed explained, and Grumman nodded before gesturing for Hotch to continue.

"Each field team within the BAU is a specialised group of agents, hand-picked from other divisions of the FBI to form one unit. We undergo rigorous training in psychology, sociology, interrogation, and criminal justice. Each field team is roughly the same size as us, though we are usually seven, not six. I'm the unit chief for the whole BAU, as well as the team leader for the seven of us. Our main job is to assist local law enforcement agencies, or fellow FBI agents, with cases where they request or require a psychological profile of the suspect. We use evidence collected by the local law enforcement, interviews of the friends and family of the victims, an analysis of the behaviour of the criminal, and our previous profiling experience to build a psychological profile of the unknown suspect or suspects to give to the local law enforcement to help them narrow their search and apprehend their suspect. Our team specialises in spree killings, serial killings, mass murders, kidnappings, and sexual crimes," Hotch continued, standing straight-backed next to Edward.

"You said you're normally a team of seven, not six. Where is your seventh team member?" Grumman asked.

"Her name is Penelope Garcia, sir. Her role in our team is technical assistance. She's not a field agent like the rest of us. We normally travel as a group of six with Garcia staying at our home office and assisting us from a distance. Truth believed her expertise would be wasted here since your country is not as technologically advanced as ours is. She was sent back to our dimension," Hotch told him.

"I see." Grumman said. He sat quietly for a few moments, studying the six agents and Edward, his eyes hidden behind the light reflecting off of the lenses of his glasses. Finally, "You believe you could help the Brigadier General by finding whoever was really behind these attacks and clear his name?" Grumman asked, and Hotch nodded firmly.

"We do, sir," he said, conviction clear in his voice. The rest of the agents nodded as well.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric?" Edward met Grumman's gaze as the older man leaned forward in his seat. "Do you trust them with this case?" The BAU shifted at the question. They knew as well as the Führer did what it would mean if Edward said yes.

Edward didn't hesitate. "I do, sir. I wouldn't trust anyone else with this. Mustang's team, my brother Al and I…we're good, but our experience isn't with this sort of crime. We deal with rogue alchemists and corrupt government and military officials. The only time Al and I have ever had something to do with a serial killer was when Scar was hunting State Alchemists across the country – and he was trying to kill _me_ as well. While we would do everything in our power to prove Mustang's innocence in these killings, hunting serial killers isn't where our strengths lie." He looked over his shoulder again and smiled at his friends before he faced Grumman. "On the other hand, the BAU live and breathe this sort of thing. I believe not asking them for help with this case would be a mistake, sir." He maintained eye contact with Grumman as he spoke, so that the Führer would know exactly how serious he was.

Grumman watched them for another long moment, his face calmly impassive, before he reached for his phone, dialed a number and held the receiver to his ear. "Samantha? Would you please send the generals back in? Then call Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and let him know that I would like to see him at his earliest convenience. Thank you." He hung up the phone and watched as the door opened and the two generals strode back into the room. The BAU and Ed exchanged glances, but Ed gestured for them to remain still.

"Führer Grumman." Both generals saluted before dropping the salute at Grumman's nod. No one missed the way the generals glared at the BAU or Ed. Ed, to his credit, didn't look fazed by their behaviour, merely bored.

"Generals, I am permitting Lieutenant Colonel Elric's friends to act as consultants for the defense, due to their unique skill-set. Given the serious nature of these crimes and my personal doubts that Brigadier General Mustang is truly the one behind them, I would prefer to have an outside team review the evidence that Lieutenant Colonel Brookes has gathered thus far and apply their talents and training to assist in bringing the true criminal – whomever it may be – to face justice." He glared the generals into silence when they tried to protest. "They – and Lieutenant Colonel Elric's team for that matter – will be given complete access to every single piece of information and evidence that Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and his team have gathered on this case and the authority to pursue their own leads and lines of investigation if they come up with something beyond the obvious."

"Yes, Führer Grumman," General Widdon said, his voice tightly controlled.

Grumman looked over at the BAU and Edward. "However, in the interest of fairness, and to give Lieutenant Colonel Brookes a chance to double-check the information, everything you find must be turned over to him. Your team will also be assigned a neutral party to be a liaison between yourselves and the high command."

"May I suggest First Lieutenant Maria Ross and her partner Master Sergeant Denny Brosh as the liaisons?" Edward asked immediately.

"Out of all the soldiers based in Central, why them?" Grumman asked, one hand held up to quiet the generals before they could protest.

"They both have a vested interest in seeing this case solved and the true killer arrested. They work under the command of Major Alex Louis Armstrong, and will want to see justice for his sister. They are also officers I trust to be completely honest with me, even when they think I won't like what they tell me," Ed said, a rueful smile on his face that no one understood. "Thanks to certain military officers throwing their ranks around and throwing tantrums whenever they're told something they don't want to hear," an obvious glance at the generals, "most of the lower-ranked soldiers are terrified to give higher-ranked officers bad news. Lieutenant Ross and Master Sergeant Brosh have never had that fear. I also trust that they would never allow themselves to be pressured or blackmailed into doing what a higher up wants for the sake of expediency."

The BAU had yet to say anything, but all six of them were far more intrigued just watching the scene in front of them as it unfolded.

Grumman looked over at Combes and Widdon. "Do the two of you have any _legitimate_ reasons why Lieutenant Ross and Master Sergeant Brosh shouldn't be the liaisons?"

"No, sir," Combes ground out, barely moving his lips.

"No, Führer Grumman," Widdon admitted, voice as emotionless as he could make it, but they could all hear the immense anger in it.

"Excellent. I'm glad we could all finally act like grown-ups on something," Grumman sighed before looking at the BAU. "Is there anything you specifically need to do your jobs?"

"We just need access to all the case files and relevant information, and the authority to question and interview people connected to the case as we fit," Hotch stepped forward. Rossi tapped him on the shoulder and Hotch leaned back slightly so Rossi could whisper in his ear. Hotch nodded and faced Grumman again. "We would also need a room we can work out of, since we don't want to interfere with the day-to-day operations of Lieutenant Colonel Elric and his team."

"Very well. I believe the office next to Lieutenant Colonel Elric's is free?" he looked at Edward in question.

"I dunno, sir. I haven't seen anyone in there and Mustang hasn't bitched to me about anyone next door so I assume it's still empty, sir." Ed shrugged. General Combes looked at Grumman like he was hoping for Edward to be scolded for the way he spoke, but he didn't get that.

"Assuming those offices are still free, you may work out of there. As for your other requests, you'll have complete access to every relevant piece of information to the case as I said earlier. However, I believe you should have a member of either Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' or Elric's team, or First Lieutenant Ross or Sergeant Brosh with you whenever you wish to question someone so that no toes are stepped on, so to speak."

"What of our request? We were in the middle of discussing something when we were interrupted," General Widdon demanded.

"Ah yes. Your request to expedite Brigadier General Mustang's court-martial on the basis of Lieutenant General Armstrong's testimony," Grumman said as he considered it. "If you recall, one of the terms of our agreement for the arrest warrant was that you are required to allow the defense time to build a case. Do you remember?" Both generals nodded. "At the same time, I would like to see this matter resolved, and Brigadier General Mustang is innocent until proven guilty, so we cannot keep him imprisoned indefinitely." He paused again, before consulting a calendar on his desk. "Very well. Lieutenant Colonel Elric and his teams have one week from today to build as much of a case as they can, or apprehend another suspect if a second look at the evidence leads away from the brigadier general." He gave Ed an apologetic look, but for some reason the blond didn't look upset about the tight deadline. The generals, however, looked absolutely gleeful.

"Thank you, Führer Grumman," Combes said, almost giddy in his delight at what he was sure secured Mustang's fate.

"That's plenty of time," Ed said with a glance at the BAU team, who also nodded in agreement. "Thank you Führer Grumman. We'll have the real killer caught by then. If there is nothing else, we'll take our leave and begin our review of the case files." The generals scoffed at Edward's words.

"Of course, Lieutenant Colonel Elric. You'll want to get the case information from Lieutenant Colonel Brookes." Grumman said as Edward saluted once again, waving him off.

"Yes, sir. We'll swing by Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' office before we head for our own," Ed told him before ducking through the door. "Thanks, Grumman!" Ed shouted as the door shut behind him even as they crossed the outer office towards the hallway. Grumman sighed and shook his head in the blond's wake.

A/N - I watched Avengers Endgame last night and I am still not okay :'( Please don't spoil it in the reviews for other readers but if you do wanna talk about it with me, I'd be happy to get a pm from you.

But in other news, here's chapter six! A lot of you were wondering if this would be the chapter where the BAU would be introduced so kudos for guessing correctly. You might have also noticed that the title for the story has changed now the BAU are here.

Many thanks to my lovely beta, PhoenixQueen, for her amazing work on this chapter and many more thanks to my amazing readers who have been leaving me reviews! Every review makes me so happy so please keep it up? I'd love to know what you think of this chapter!

GuestP - Yes, Brookes most definitely is a good cookie and Mustang could probably do with a backrub and a comb XD I'm glad you liked the previous chapter and I hope you like this one!

Until next time, everyone! Please remember to review!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"You feel alright?" Morgan asked the moment they closed the doors to the Führer's office and turned down the wide hallway towards the stairs that would lead to Mustang's office. Ed gave him a weird look. "I could feel you holding back a snarky response any time the generals opened their mouths. You okay?" Morgan asked in a mock-serious tone even though his voice was filled with suppressed laughter.

"Don't worry. I'll just be extra insubordinate next time," Ed told them; grinning as he imagined the shades of purple he could make Combes and Widdon turn. Hotch and a few of the others looked worried for him. "They can't come after me and they know it. As long as I'm not unduly disrespectful, anyway. Remember what I said? I answer only to Grumman and Mustang, not to everyone who's above me in rank. They just don't like the fact that there's someone in the military of lower rank than they are that they can't throw their rank at and force them to obey. I probably get far too much enjoyment out of reminding them that I can tell them to fuck off without fearing repercussions," Ed admitted, grinning a little sheepishly.

"As long as you're sure it won't come back to get you," Hotch said.

Ed shrugged. "Even if it does I'll be found to be in the right and they'll be the ones punished. Plus, it would look really bad if it got out among the civilians that there are two generals who went after a lowly lieutenant colonel because he refused to follow their orders when he didn't have to. The fact that I'm the People's Alchemist will make them think three times as well," he added nonchalantly as they turned the corner.

"The People's Alchemist?" JJ asked curiously.

"Yeah. Apparently the public is actually in favour of having a State Alchemist who's not afraid to tell the military where to stick it, especially after the Promised Day. Who would've thought?" Ed asked in mock wonder. "We're nearly there."

"At Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' office?" JJ asked and Ed shot her a confused frown. "You said we would be heading there first to pick up the case files, remember?" she asked, a little amused as Ed's mouth opened in a silent 'oh'.

"Yeah, so the thing is we've already got them. Technically, we didn't steal them because Brookes gave us permission to pick up the copies he made. But he was also under orders at the time to not grant us access to them, so he snuck me a note with a time when he would conveniently be out of the office with the majority of his team. It was long enough for us to nab the files," Ed told them, waving off their concerned looks. "So, since we don't need to head there, we're just going straight to Mustang's office. I'll introduce you to everyone and you guys can go over the files yourselves. After that, we can go see Mustang, but then I'll need to take you to the shops." He eyed them thoughtfully. "Your clothes don't stand out here quite as much as mine did in America, but someone will notice eventually and ask questions, especially if you wear the same thing over and over again. Plus, I need to get you booked into a hotel as well."

He stopped in front of a door. "That's your office, by the way, but there's plenty of room for you guys to work out of Mustang's office, since Mustang's team will be helping on this too. It'll be easier to work together if we keep all the files in the same place." He continued walking for a few steps before opening another door and stepping in to numerous greetings.

"Lieutenant Colonel, it's good to see you back," Hawkeye greeted from where she sat. None of them looked like they'd gotten any sleep, including Al.

Speaking of Al…

The agents watched as some of the tension bled out of Ed's frame as he approached the desks where paperwork was spread out all over the surface and embraced another teen with hair the same shade as his own. Reid was the last one through the door and pushed it shut behind him.

"Brother!" Al greeted enthusiastically as he gave Ed a hug before studying the group behind him. "Who are they?"

"They're the ones who were waiting for me in Resembool," Ed told him. This made everyone sit up straighter. "Everyone, meet the Behavioural Analysis Unit from America. These are Agents Aaron Hotchner, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, Jennifer Jareau, Derek Morgan, and Doctor Spencer Reid." Like he'd done in Grumman's office, he pointed to each person as he said their name. "BAU team, this is Mustang's team. That's Captain Riza Hawkeye, First Lieutenant Jean Havoc, First Lieutenant Heymans Breda, Second Lieutenant Vato Falman, and Warrant Officer Kain Fuery. This here is my little brother, Alphonse Elric," Ed said pointing out each member of Mustang's team as he spoke and then shoving Al forward a little.

"It's a pleasure to be able to put faces to the stories," Hotch said, offering a hand for Alphonse to shake as everyone else got to their feet and made their way over.

"Likewise, Agent Hotchner." Hawkeye said as she shook his hand. It took a little while for everyone to meet everyone, but they finally managed it. Hawkeye gave Ed a significant look. "You went to Resembool to find out who the illegals were and you came back with your American friends? Only you, sir."

"I know, but do you guys realise what this means?" Ed asked, excitedly. "They're here to help! Remember the stories I told you about their jobs? They catch serial killers for a living. They can help get Mustang out of trouble and find the real killer." Watching the dawning realisation sweep over their faces was amusing.

"Brother, how are they here?" Al asked and Ed grimaced.

"Truth sent them. It its vague-as-fuck way, it told them that if they completed the mission it sent them on, then their trip home would be free. Problem is, it didn't tell them about Mustang, it just tossed them through the Gate and they landed in Resembool. So, either Mustang isn't their mission and it's being a dick, or Mustang _is_ their mission and it's being a dick by making me try and figure out whether or not there's something else they're supposed to be doing here." Ed sighed in annoyance.

"Why would it send them in the first place? No offense, guys," Havoc asked, looking at the BAU team. "It's not like we don't have any experience at all in catching a serial killer, even if it's not really our normal gig."

Ed shrugged. "It told them it didn't like the path Amestris was heading down if they didn't right the wrong. Said it would have more work on its grubby hands if we couldn't get it right in time." The team didn't look happy with his answers and, if he was being honest, Ed wasn't exactly happy with them either. "Look, guys, we can question Truth's motives all bloody day long and get nowhere or we can take Truth at its word – such as it is – and utilise the BAU. We'll worry about Truth and his dickish motives later, after we save Mustang's ass."

Hawkeye nodded in agreement and looked over at the BAU team. "We'll be glad to have your assistance." She looked over at Ed. "I assume that Führer Grumman has been made aware, sir?"

"Yup. We just got back from his office. Oh, that reminds me that I've gotta contact Mustang's lawyer and make him aware that we'll be helping on the case," Ed said. "But back to Grumman. Yes, he knows. Grumman's given us the use of the office next door if we need it, and Lieutenant Ross and Master Sergeant Brosh will be their liaisons. Someone from this team, Brookes' team, or Armstrong's team has to accompany them wherever they go. Grumman promised Combes and Widdon that the BAU would also let Brookes know any new information they find, which I said was all good."

The rest of Mustang's team exchanged uncertain looks. Ed saw the looks. "Remember, Brookes doesn't believe Mustang is guilty either; he wants us to succeed here. Oh and there's one more thing," Ed said before giving them an apologetic look. "We have a week from today to get as much evidence gathered as possible, because Grumman granted the generals permission to court-martial Mustang after that." While he thought the week long deadline was doable, he wasn't sure how the others would react, but much to his relief, all of them nodded.

"Then we'd best get to work, sir," Hawkeye said. Ed grinned before waving the agents over and giving them access to all the files they had.

* * *

"Sir, if I can talk to you in private, please?" Hawkeye's quieter-than-normal voice startled Ed out of his reading stupor. He blinked at her a couple of times before looking around. Everyone else was working on the files. The Amestrians had paired up with the Americans to help explain things to them, and Al was helping Reid with everything. The two of them were getting along as well as he got along with Reid, which he was pleased about. Hawkeye had called Armstrong and he'd assured her that Ross would be reporting to them in the morning for her liaison assignment.

"Edward?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, sure." He stood up from his rarely-used desk next to Fuery's and together he and Hawkeye headed into Mustang's inner office. Ed gestured for Al to stay where he was when he started to follow. Hawkeye closed the door behind them and turned to face Edward. "What's up?" he asked.

"I'm not sure if it crossed your mind with everything that's happened in the past couple of days but when you agreed to take over Mustang's office, however temporary, you agreed to take on his workload too, Ed."

Edward snapped his fingers sharply, startling her. "I _knew_ there was something I'd forgotten to ask you!" he exclaimed. "Yeah, I realised that when I signed the transfer form. I was wondering how much you're allowed to help with it?" he asked but didn't give her a chance to answer before explaining his question. "Because, what I was thinking was that if you could help me – mainly because I _still_ don't know what Mustang actually _does_ all day when he's not trying to hide his paperwork and dodge your bullets – then we could get it out of the way a lot quicker and can get back to helping the others."

"I'd be happy to help as much as I can, sir," she told him, happy he was aware of his new responsibilities and that she wouldn't be dealing with a younger, blond version of Mustang. "Führer Grumman took pity on us yesterday and today and sent as much of the paperwork as he could to other departments, but we still have some we need to get done. Do you want to start on it now and I'll explain what you need to know?"

Ed nodded gratefully. "Thanks, Captain." They headed to Mustang's desk and Ed stood next to the chair, leaving it open for Hawkeye to take, which she did, and they got started on the small pile of papers sitting there.

Within a matter of a few minutes, Ed found that he was learning a lot about what Mustang actually had to do while at his desk, but he still wasn't seeing why he always complained about it. He wondered if he'd actually understand his commander's complaints by the time they cleared his name. After all, the amount on the desk was barely anything compared to what he normally got, at least according to Hawkeye. It did take them nearly three-quarters of an hour to get through the pile, though that was mostly due to Hawkeye having to explain the purpose of each different form and report to Ed and what he needed to do with it.

The more Hawkeye explained about each form, the more Edward came to understand exactly what it was that Mustang did every day. It seemed as though, ever since his promotion to brigadier general, Mustang was in charge of everything related to mission assignments for the entire State Alchemist program. He reviewed field reports from military police posts where the aid of a State Alchemist was requested; from there he ensured that the field reports were distilled down into the mission briefings of the type that Edward always received. After that, he assigned the missions to the alchemist who could best complete the mission, keeping in mind a number of factors such as the alchemist's specialty, the history the area had with alchemists who had been assigned there in the past, and what alchemists were even available for assignment at the time. He also reviewed the reports submitted by State Alchemists upon completion of a mission to make sure that anything the military needed to know about – damages, requests for further aid, intelligence gathered in the field that could impact the security of the country, and dozens of other things – were noted and sent on to the appropriate team to take care of.

He was also in charge of sorting through reports that claimed that crimes were being committed by alchemists and had to determine which ones were real before getting someone out there to help apprehend the rogue.

"Sometimes we find that an officer has forgotten to include important information on the forms," Hawkeye explained. "One of my jobs for the general is to track down those officers to acquire the missing information, so it's important that he reads everything thoroughly. If we create a mission report for a State Alchemist based on incomplete information, it could cost lives or extensive amounts of property damage."

"Huh, okay," Ed said as he signed the final form and Hawkeye gathered the stack into a neat pile. "That makes sense. I never really realised just how involved his job was; I only ever hear him complain about it, but he doesn't exactly give out a lot of details."

Together they stood up from Mustang's desk and headed back out into the outer office where the two teams were still bent over the case files and conversing quietly as they studied the evidence and interviews that Brookes had managed to compile in the month and a half that he had been working on these cases. Edward glanced at the clock and swore, catching everyone's attention.

"If you guys want to go home, you can," he told Mustang's team. I want to take the BAU to visit Mustang so they can see each other and we can bring him up to date on everything, and then I said I'd take these guys to the shops so they can get some clothes since Truth didn't exactly give them the chance to pack anything. After that we'll probably get food and book them into a hotel."

No one moved, except for the BAU team. They got to their feet and a moment later so did Al, but everyone else stayed put. Mustang's team exchanged glances and nods.

"We'll keep going Chief. Besides, knowing you, you'll be back after all of that," Havoc grinned knowingly, causing Ed to roll his eyes and grin right back.

"Yeah, you're probably right. If any of you want to sleep but don't wanna leave, remember Mustang has two comfy couches in there." He pointed his thumb at the door to the inner office.

"Why don't you set your friends up in some of the empty dorm rooms on base, sir?" Hawkeye suggested. "There wouldn't be any cost to you that way."

Edward frowned questioningly. "That's an option? I thought civilians weren't allowed to stay in the dorms without a military person with them." Hawkeye shook her head.

"Civilians contracted with the military are welcome to make use of any spare dorms available. Warrant Officer Fuery, you live in the dorms. Are there three rooms in close proximity to each other, preferably in close proximity to you as well, available?"

Fuery's eyebrows furrowed as he thought for a moment. "I think there are three dorm rooms next to each other a floor above mine, captain."

Hawkeye nodded in thanks before she glanced at the BAU team. "Are the six of you okay with staying in the military dorms?" All six agents nodded or indicated that they were fine with the housing arrangement. "I'll make it happen then," she promised.

"Thanks, captain," Edward said gratefully. "Does anyone want anything for dinner? My treat?" he asked, and naturally everyone placed an order once they figured out where they wanted dinner from. Ed nodded, trusting that between the two of them, he and Alphonse would be able to remember everyone's orders. "Alright. We'll be back as soon as we can." He ushered the BAU and his brother out the door as Mustang's team yelled acknowledgements before Hawkeye's serious gaze sent them back to work.

* * *

The warrant officer standing guard at the entrance of the building which contained the holding cells watched them warily as the group approached. Edward flashed his pocket watch and the soldier relaxed slightly before letting them through. Inside the main entrance, Edward showed his watch to the second guard. "Lieutenant Colonel Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. We're here to see Brigadier General Mustang."

"Visiting hours are almost over for the day," the guard said. "I can give you ten minutes."

"That'll be enough for today," Edward said easily. "There have been some new developments in his case that we need to speak with him about."

The guard nodded and opened the door leading to the cell block with the key on his belt. He started to lead the way, but Al smiled. "I was here yesterday, I can lead the way," he offered. The guard hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and stood aside and allowed the group past.

Most of the cells were empty, and just before they reached Mustang's cell, Ed got a shit-eating grin on his face and waved for the BAU team to wait out of sight. Because they weren't idiots, they knew what Ed was planning, but decided to let the blond have his fun. Al looked as though he wished they wouldn't.

"Well, you look cozy," Ed said as soon as he was in front of the cell where Mustang could see him. Al was walking with him, but he'd decided to just let his brother get it out of his system. "At least while you're here you can nap all day and you don't have to worry about Hawkeye shooting you."

"Fullmetal. What a pleasant surprise," Mustang said, as if it were anything but. "I heard you went to Resembool."

"Yeah, Miss Gracia and Elysia are taking a well-earned holiday at Granny's," Ed told him, before eyeing Mustang's attire. "Nice outfit. Grey really suits you. Maybe I should transmute your uniforms that colour." The teen's golden eyes glinted like he was actually thinking about doing it.

"Brother," Al whispered like he was trying to find the inner strength to deal with this.

Ed rolled his eyes. "Fine, Al." He looked at Mustang. "I want it to go on record that we're about to save your ass, again." He waved the BAU over as Mustang sat up and Ed had the pleasure of watching the man's jaw drop much in the way he assumed his own had done when he caught sight of the BAU.

"How is it you can go to Resembool and come back with people from another dimension, Fullmetal?" Mustang asked as he grinned at the agents. He stood up from his bunk and moved over to the bars. The wooden restraint around his wrists prevented him from being able to reach all the way between the bars to shake the agents' hands, but the agents were able to reach through from the outside.

"You know, Captain Hawkeye actually said something along those lines," Ed told him. "Truth nabbed them and dumped them in Resembool. They took my advice from the last time we saw them and asked the first military officer they came across to find me, and he arrested them for not having any papers permitting them entrance into Amestris."

"What do they have to pay?" Mustang asked and Ed shrugged.

"Nothing, apparently. All they have to do is solve this case with us and they should be able to go home, free of charge." Mustang looked like he believed _that_ as much as Ed did.

"And you believe it?" Mustang asked, before he got a good look at the expression on Ed's face. "Of course you don't. I assume you're gonna be trying to figure out Truth's motivations as well." He turned back to the agents. "Regardless, it's good to see all of you again. It's definitely not something I figured might happen, but nonetheless, I'm grateful for all the help I can get."

"It's good to see you again, Brigadier General Mustang. I'll be even happier to say that when we get you out of here," Hotch said.

"Are you okay, General Mustang?" JJ asked, eyeing the restraints around his wrists worriedly as she took her turn shaking Mustang's hand, pausing for a moment at the sight of the thin white scar that neatly bisected the center of his palm.

"As good as can be, all things considered," Mustang assured her, but she didn't look placated. "So what's happened since yesterday?"

"The team and I spent the rest of the day and night going over the case files and I looked into some of your old cases like I said I would. I compared those photos with the photos from this case, and I think I've found enough discrepancies between the burned victims in your old cases and the victims in these cases to cast some doubt over you having been the perpetrator here, sir," Al told him and Mustang nodded. "Miss Sheska came by at lunchtime and she slipped us a copy of the statement Lieutenant Colonel Brookes took from Lieutenant General Armstrong. Oh, General Armstrong's awake, obviously, and she's doing well. The doctors are mainly worried about her head wound, but they say she can go home when her stitches are out, if the wound is still healing well."

"That's good to hear. What did she say? Anything that can help?" Mustang asked, trying not to sound _too_ anxious.

Al sighed. "Not really, sir. She refused to name you as her attacker though, since she claims she never saw her attacker's face and couldn't even tell the gender from the uniform since her attacker was wearing pants, rather than a skirt."

Mustang sighed a little. "That's a shame, but at least it will help my defense a little."

"Speaking of," Ed said and Mustang looked at him. "Your lawyer needs to send a letter to the Führer's office, officially asking us to work on his behalf." He gestured to himself and the BAU. "Also, tell him we bought him a week. If we don't have the evidence to get you out of here in one week's time, the generals will have authorisation to convene a court-martial for you. The BAU and I kinda literally walked in on Combes and Widdon badgering Grumman into convening the court-martial ASAP."

Mustang gave him a Look. "What do you mean you walked in on them while they were in a meeting?"

Ed shrugged. "I knocked first."

Mustang sighed and looked like he wanted to hit his head against the wall. He also didn't look like he appreciated the snickers coming from a couple of the BAU team members. "What happened?" His tone said that he didn't really want to know, but figured that he probably should.

"Well, Grumman agreed to let them help, which is great. They have to report to Brookes and your lawyer. He gave us the week deadline and they get to operate out of the office next door to us. Oh, and Lieutenant Ross and Master Sergeant Brosh are their military liaisons for the time they're here," Ed summed up. "Captain Hawkeye is seeing if there are some dorms on base for them to stay at so they won't have to travel to and from the hotel every day. Also, I did your paperwork since I'm technically you at the moment. Don't panic," he rolled his eyes when it looked like Mustang was just about to do that, "Captain Hawkeye explained everything to me and was nice enough to help me with it in case I had questions."

"She helped you? Why? She doesn't help me," Mustang asked.

"Maybe because she knows I won't use her help as a chance for me to slack off," Ed snarked. Mustang glared at him as Al pulled his brother away from the cell bars so he couldn't reach through to try and deck Mustang.

"As much as I hate to break up this lovely banter," Hotch said drily, "we wanted to ask a couple of questions before we head into town and do what we have to get done tonight."

"Sure," Mustang agreed easily.

"Do you know anyone who would want to frame you and is capable of pulling this off?" Rossi asked and Mustang sighed.

"It's not like I don't have a short list of people who'd want to see me here, but I honestly don't know anyone who is still alive and would have had the opportunity and time to pull something this elaborate off," Mustang told them, but they looked like they had expected that answer.

"Have you noticed anyone following you in the last few months? Anyone who was watching you far too closely for it to have been simply dismissed as curiosity or interest?" Morgan asked and Mustang shook his head again.

"Not that I know of, and I'm normally pretty good at spotting that kind of thing. I've had my fair share of stalkers over the years," Mustang shrugged. "Why? Do you think I have a stalker?" Mustang asked, and Ed had to admit he kind of wanted to know the answer as well.

"The fact that all of these murders happened on nights where you happened to have no alibi is too obvious to ignore. What would the chances be of the killer choosing five nights where you had no alibi if they didn't have knowledge that you would be home by yourself? Plus, there's the fact that four of the five victims who died had a grudge of varying degrees against you. Only someone who was stalking you as closely as this person seems to be would be able to choose victims designed to implicate you so thoroughly. Major General Andrews didn't hold a grudge against you, but you're the most obvious person to replace him since he was your commanding officer and you're the second in command for the State Alchemist program, according to Edward. It could be argued that Lieutenant General Armstrong doesn't hold a grudge against you either, although she does have an admitted dislike for you. There's no discernible reason for it, but from everything we've heard so far, I get the impression like that feeling is mutual between the two of you," Hotch said.

Mustang shrugged again. "We aren't each other's biggest fans, but I certainly couldn't imagine her attacking me in a dark alley for no reason other than just because."

"Yeah, we read her statement. She said something similar," JJ told him. "However, the generals don't seem to care that you weren't named. She told them she saw sparks coming from the gloves, and that seemed to be good enough for them." The blonde agent's tone was laden with disgust.

Both Mustang and Ed snorted. "The generals would have jumped on any minute or abstract detail she had given them and used it as proof that it couldn't have been anyone else other than me," Mustang told her with a sardonic smile.

"Miss Sheska told me that she'd heard that the generals tried to manipulate Lieutenant General Armstrong into giving them your name by using the guilt she'd feel if they had to release you and more people were attacked," Al told them. Ed and Mustang both laughed at that.

"Aw, man. I wish I could've been there for that," Ed chuckled. "She would've absolutely slaughtered them." Mustang looked like he very much agreed with that statement.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric?" A voice from the other side of the group had everyone look that way to see the soldier from the front desk.

"Yeah?" Ed asked, noting that the guard looked a little scared.

"I have to ask you and your group to leave, sir. The visiting hours have ended for the day." His tone indicated that he was preparing himself for a refusal, or Ed saying that he'd leave when he was good and ready.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realise we'd hit our time limit yet. We'll be gone in a minute," Ed swore and the man nodded, visibly relaxing as he headed back to the desk. "That actually reminds me that I'm pissed at you for making me a Lieutenant Colonel," he added, turning to Mustang, his golden eyes blazing as they narrowed.

Mustang didn't look phased, but then again, he was used to Edward's fiery gaze after so many years of working together. "You needed to be promoted so that Brookes wouldn't have as easy a time trying to give you orders because the generals were pulling his strings. I know," he said before Edward could interrupt, "that your contract would've protected you from that, but we all know you would've done what Brookes said if he told you the generals were threatening him. You might have been able to resolve it, but it would have taken time, and that's not something I have a great deal of at the moment. This way, he wouldn't be able to order you to do anything and the generals know that."

"I'm still gonna get you back for this," Edward promised him. "I think your office needs to be spruced up a bit. Maybe I'll redesign it." He tapped his chin in thought.

"You leave my office alone, Fullmetal," Mustang growled and Ed grinned.

"You mean _my_ office?" Now his eyes were definitely twinkling with mischief. "Anyway, we need to go before we have to be asked again. Is there anything else you guys need to ask?" he asked the BAU team.

"What time are you normally allowed visitors? That way we know when to come back to question you fully," Hotch asked.

"Any time during the day. My lawyer has been coming in to discuss my case with me in the mornings, if you want to talk to him for some reason," Mustang told them. The agents nodded. That was easy enough.

"Don't forget to ask him to officially request our help," Ed said and Mustang rolled his eyes.

"I heard you the first time," Mustang replied. "Unlike you when it comes to unnecessary property damage, I don't need to be told things multiple times."

"No, you just need Captain Hawkeye to threaten to shoot you before you'll get your paperwork done," Edward snarled in response.

Al grabbed Edward before his brother could retaliate further. "We should go, Brother, before the stores all close," Al reminded Ed while Morgan and Rossi struggled not to laugh at the two State Alchemists' ongoing war of sarcasm.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that," Ed said, ignoring how his little brother rolled his eyes. "Let's go. Later, bastard." Ed gave a half-hearted wave as he grabbed Al and dragged him towards the front entrance.

"Bye, General Mustang!" Al called as he followed his brother. He knew his older brother was simply giving the BAU a bit of time to say their own goodbyes while he placated the guard.

"Bye, Alphonse," Mustang called back as the teenagers disappeared from his field of view. "You guys should go too," he added, gesturing towards the door, "before Fullmetal gets something in his head and forgets you're here in favour of figuring the mystery out." He managed a half-smile.

"A couple of us will be by tomorrow to talk with you. Try and think back, maybe as far back as when you got back from America the first time. See if you can't think of someone who had the opportunity and means to frame you. Also, try and think back to any moment where you'd felt like you were being intensely watched in the last few months. Something like this couldn't have been planned overnight. Try and remember who you saw in those moments. One of them might be the person we're looking for," Hotch told him and Mustang nodded to show he would do as suggested.

"Anything you think will help us figure this out, let us know, even if you initially dismiss it as something irrelevant after you've thought of it," Rossi added.

"I will. Thank you for assisting my team with this. I know Fullmetal will appreciate the help when he gets a real taste of what I actually do all day. I'm looking forward to seeing how he handles all the paperwork I have to deal with," Mustang said, slightly vindictively as he thought about the blond alchemist doing all of that paperwork, considering how often he had to chase the teen down just to get him to turn in his mission reports.

"You're welcome Brigadier General Mustang," Hotch decided not to touch the subject of the paperwork and Edward. "We'll get you out of here."

Mustang gave him a grateful half-smile. "I'd appreciate that."

The rest of the BAU exchanged goodbyes with Mustang and the Flame Alchemist watched as the team left before returning to his bunk and getting as comfortable as it was possible to be considering the thin mattress.

One week. All he could think was they had one week to try and do what Brookes hadn't been able to do in almost two months. He knew having the BAU team here bettered their chances and then there was Edward's legendary stubbornness, but even Mustang couldn't help the small flicker of doubt in his mind. One week wasn't very much time and the generals certainly wouldn't make things easy if they could help it. Edward may be protected and the team would be covered under that protection, but Mustang knew how much of a threat the other generals considered him to be and he felt a momentary pang of fear for them all. The generals might want him gone badly enough to cut down anyone in their path. Mustang just hoped the week deadline would mollify the generals enough so that they didn't do anything drastic to keep him in prison.

* * *

Ed and Al were in the middle of a minor, low-toned argument when the BAU rejoined them at the front entrance to the holding cells. The two brothers stopped their argument when they spotted the rest of the team, but Al couldn't help but sneak one last whispered shot in about how Ed wasn't allowed to redecorate Mustang's office while the man was in the holding cells. Ed glared at him before thanking the guard and leading everyone back outside. They nodded at the warrant officer stationed at the front of the building before Edward took a hard left turn and headed up that path towards the west gate.

"Hey, Ed?" Reid called. Ed slowed and looked back at him. "Why did Mustang have that wooden board on his wrists?"

"The military had to come up with a way to be able to secure a criminal alchemist. A lot of alchemists get their primary transmutation circle tattooed on their hands or arms somewhere, so traditional cuffs don't work because the alchemists have too much freedom of movement. The board prevents alchemists from being able to draw an accurate circle, touch their arms or hands to activate a tattooed array, or – in my case anyway – clap," Ed explained. "Mustang doesn't have a tattoo, and his gloves are his access to his fire alchemy – the array is stitched on the backs of the gloves and the gloves themselves are made of a specially coated fabric that generates sparks. However, he's still an alchemist and knows other forms of alchemy, even if they're not his strongest specialty, so the board will prevent him from creating circles for those other types."

"And what were those scars on his hands?" JJ added. "I saw them on both of his palms and the backs of his hands, but I never noticed them before."

Ed hesitated for a very long moment, before he finally sighed. "He doesn't like to talk about them, but they're from injuries that he got on the Promised Day. One of the homunculi tried to injure his hands so that he couldn't snap to use his flame alchemy. You probably never noticed them since he always wears gloves unless he's alone at home."

"But the scar on the back of his right hand looked like a faded circle, even though there was a newer one right through the center of the back of his hand," Reid objected. Ed didn't respond and the silence grew awkward.

"The one that looked like a circle was from an older injury – his gloves were destroyed and he was forced to use a knife to carve his transmutation array into the back of his hand," Al finally spared his brother. "I was there when he got that injury – he saved my life and Captain Hawkeye's life that day."

Everyone fell silent and followed the two blond teenagers as they left the Command Center through the west gate and out into the city proper.

"So, what's the plan?" Morgan finally asked once they were a block or so away from Central Command.

"Well, I figured you lot would want to get clothes first, so we're heading towards an area of town near here that will have good staple clothing available for reasonable prices," Edward said. "I don't know what else you guys need but there're other shops in same area. After that, we'll need to go and pick up the food from the restaurant for everyone before we go back to the office. If you want to stay and work you can, or one of us can take you over to the dorms and you can start fresh again in the morning."

* * *

There wasn't an awful lot of traffic, foot or otherwise, on the streets at this time and Ed knew they'd be cutting it close with the shops. Thankfully, no one they passed seemed to recognise Ed, or if they did they either didn't care or didn't have a reason to stop him, and the group was left alone to make their way to the shops Edward had been thinking of. Ed pointed out a couple of different stores where they could get what the agents would need for their stay. Reid wanted to head for the bookstore immediately, but Hotch told him he could go and look at it later. Both Ed and Reid whined a little, but Hotch wasn't moved by their tones or expressions. Al was too busy cackling at his brother's expression to try and help sway the lead agent. Ed would continually swear that the elbow to the ribs Al got in response was a complete accident.

They entered the first clothing store Ed had pointed out and immediately spread out to see what they offered. JJ and Prentiss headed for the women's section and the men left them to their own devices so they wouldn't be pulled into giving opinions and the like. Reid and Morgan had made that mistake only once and both decided they'd rather fight a disorganised psychopath than go through that experience again. It was only made worse because Garcia was with them at the time, but they weren't going to place any wagers on the two women being less intense without Garcia amongst them.

Morgan, Reid, Rossi, and Hotch were done in practically no time, grabbing enough clothing to last them a week. Fortunately, the differences in men's clothing between Amestris and America wasn't that great, and it wasn't difficult for them to find things close enough to their usual style that wouldn't be uncomfortable, as well as some sleepwear. The ladies found that while there were blazers, pants, skirts, and tops available, the colours were a little more muted and the styles a little more conservative and old-fashioned than they were used to, but still sturdy enough that they would be able to chase down a suspect if necessary or to be out doing interviews, as well as their own pajamas. Ed asked if they were all done and got six assurances before he led them over to the checkout area and paid for their purchases.

"Okay, is there anything else you guys need?" Ed asked as they exited the store, staying off to the side so that they weren't blocking the way of the few people who were still out shopping.

"We need toiletries and hygienic supplies," JJ said. Ed nodded and waited a moment to see if there were other requests. When none were forthcoming, he shrugged and led them down the street a little further to where there was a pharmacy and grocers right next door to each other.

"If one of these stores doesn't have what you need, the other will," Ed told them, gesturing to both buildings.

The BAU chose the pharmacy to raid first, grabbing hair brushes, tooth brushes, toothpaste and whatever else they thought they might need before heading over to the counter. Ed handed over the money and thanked the girl who was waiting there while the BAU put their stuff in their bags.

"Next up is food. The restaurant everyone wants food from is closer to Central Command. Are you guys sure you have everything you'll need?" Ed asked. Reid's eyes flashed towards the bookstore before nodding alongside the others. "There are some alchemy texts and some other histories and stuff in Mustang's office you're welcome to borrow if you want something before you can visit the bookstores, Reid," Ed laughed and the young man's face lit up with delight. Morgan laughed and ruffled the genius' hair, making Reid swat at his hands.

"Let's go get food before Havoc hunts us down," Al suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Havoc is not a fun person to be around when he's hungry," Ed agreed.

"Sounds like getting dinner would be in our best interests," Hotch said drily, the corner of his mouth twitching like he wanted to smile.

* * *

They were about halfway to the restaurant the team had chosen when Ed remembered something he hadn't asked any of the agents yet, the question having slipped his mind during the trip back to Central. "Hey, do you guys speak to the NCIS team at all?" Al perked up at the mention of the other federal agents his brother and Mustang had worked with.

"I talk to Abby and McGee almost every week," Reid told him and Ed looked at him expectantly. "They're doing well. McGee says there's a weird tension between Tony and Ziva because of some argument they had, but they're slowly resolving whatever it was. Abby has been telling me about some of their more interesting cases over the last few months." Ed frowned and hoped that his friends would be able to move past their argument soon.

"DiNozzo and I talk, but it's usually about cases and movie recommendations," Morgan added with a shrug. "Our team is out of town so much that we don't get any real chances to meet up socially. I know Garcia and Abby have become very firm friends over their shared love of technology. They talk every other day." He grinned as he recalled Garcia telling him about a few of their conversations.

"Those two would be unstoppable together and you had better hope they don't try and take over the world," Ed told him and Morgan wasn't the only one who nodded in agreement.

They talked more about the things the NCIS agents had told them about while they continued their trek to the restaurant. Ed entered and was immediately greeted warmly by the owner the moment he spotted him.

"Hey, Edward, Alphonse! Good to see you again." The owner sobered. "I heard about what happened to Mustang. I'm sure you and the team are very busy trying to find the truth." He walked over the shook Ed's hand. "Who are your friends?" he asked as he spotted the agents.

"Yeah, we've just started our own investigation. I've been sent to grab fuel for everyone," Ed grinned. "These are some friends of mine who are helping us out. They specialise in these sorts of cases, so they're lending us a hand. Guys, this is Mark. He owns this restaurant, and he's also one of the chefs."

"Nice to meet all of you. Any friend of the Elric brothers is a friend of mine," Mark said. "What can I get for you guys?" he asked, grabbing his order pad and a pen and looking at them expectantly. As the BAU studied the menus, Ed and Al placed the orders for the rest of Mustang's team. Once the two teens were sure they had accounted for everyone else's orders, the BAU added their own requests. Mark raised his eyebrow at Ed once he'd finished taking the orders, but the blond nodded, so he tore the pages he'd written off and assured them that he'd have their food ready for them as soon as possible.

There was silence for a few moments before Morgan and Reid pulled Edward off to the side a bit and began talking with him. Alphonse smiled at his brother as he talked animatedly with his two friends before his attention was diverted away from Edward and back to the rest of the BAU team.

"So, Alphonse, how old are you?" JJ asked.

"I turned sixteen just before Brother's most recent trip out of this dimension," Al replied.

"So, you were eleven when Edward joined the military?" she asked and Al nodded. "That must have been tough. Ed's told us about some of his missions." Her tone was sympathetic. She still didn't like the thought that a twelve-year-old would be allowed to join the military, even in a specialised unit like the State Alchemist program, and have to see the sorts of things that he had implied he had. To have to have his eleven-year-old brother tagging along had probably only put additional stress on Edward.

Al shrugged. "Sometimes it was, but there isn't much I would change about our situation. Brother was adamant about me staying out of the military, and since I was the younger brother and he was named as my guardian, I couldn't have joined even if I wanted to. Brother believed that it was his job to take care of me and he was willing to do whatever it took to do that. Brother didn't have a lot of options to choose from after the accident that would allow him to support us, so the offer that General Mustang made was pretty much the only option he could take, given our circumstances." He watched his brother laugh at something that Morgan had just said.

"What would you have changed if you could have?" Prentiss asked. No one missed the way Al's eyes dimmed a little.

"Just a couple of people we couldn't save. If I could go back, I'd save them. Brother feels the same," Al told them sadly. The four members of the BAU who weren't talking to Ed looked at each other before looking at the younger Elric.

"Do you mean Maes Hughes?" Hotch asked, and Al started, not expecting them to have known that name.

"How do you know about Brigadier General Hughes?" Al asked. He saw the agents glance at Ed again before looking back at him.

"Ed and Mustang mentioned him when we found the last victim Harding killed on their first trip to America," Rossi answered and that's when it clicked for Al. Edward had told him about his reflection's death at Harding's hands.

"Oh, right," Al said a little dumbly. "But yes, his death is one that we would want to prevent," he added in response to the original question. Despite the fact that Edward's nightmares seemed to be getting better since the trip to help the Paladins of Voltron, he _did_ still have them. Hughes was definitely still one of the main features in Ed's nightmares, but Al had thought that Ed seemed to be steadily coming around to accept what everyone else who knew about his nightmares had been telling him: that Hughes' death wasn't his fault.

Sensing a need to change the subject, JJ smiled at the younger boy. "What were some of the more enjoyable missions you helped Ed with, Alphonse?" she asked, determined to get the conversation away from something that clearly weighed so heavily on his shoulders.

The question had an immediate effect and Al grinned and started to tell them about a time they'd been on a mission when Edward had been fifteen and a four-year-old boy had practically attached himself to Ed's side when he realised who he was. Ed had been in a foul mood the whole trip from East City because a lead on the Philosopher's Stone hadn't panned out and this kid had refused to let his bad mood affect his hero-worship of Ed. The agents grinned as they listened to him describe how Ed had realised the kid wasn't going to leave him alone and had begrudgingly let him tag along – since the mission wasn't a dangerous one – and how he eventually allowed the kid's enthusiasm shake him out of his bad mood.

"Here you go, Ed," Mark called as he emerged from the kitchen with several bags of food. Ed sprang to his feet immediately.

"That was quick. Thanks, Mark," Ed grinned at him. "Havoc will be very happy to see us." Mark laughed as he handed bags to Ed, Al, and Morgan. Ed palmed his bags off to Hotch so he could grab his wallet to pay Mark for the food. "What's the damage?" he asked as Al started to herd the agents out of the restaurant with a call of thanks to Mark, who waved goodbye at him.

"You just cover your new friends' food. The rest is on me," Mark said, waving Ed's protests off. "No, consider it my way of helping you help Mustang. Now, get going. I'm sure you've got a lot of work ahead of you," he added sternly.

Ed hesitated, but finally handed over the money to cover the BAU's food and gave him a massive grin. "Thanks Mark! I owe you one!" he said before he headed out the door to catch up with the others.

Mark watched the blond leave and hoped he'd be able to clear Mustang's name. Mark had been listening to the gossip around town – one of the side effects of owning a popular restaurant – and knew that if public opinion was all it took to convict someone, Mustang would be in trouble. It seemed like the majority of Central was convinced Mustang was guilty. What really irritated Mark was that those people would barely be able to identify Mustang from a line up if their lives depended on it. A shout of his name from the kitchen had him heading back to work with a sigh.

* * *

Ed had caught up with the others in no time and took the bags back from Hotch before letting himself be drawn into whatever they were discussing as they made the journey back to Central Command. The group raised some eyebrows when they passed through the main gates, but Ed just showed his pocket watch again and told the guards they were here with the Führer's permission and they didn't have any problems gaining admittance. When Ed opened the door to the office, he was almost pounced on by Havoc and Breda, both of whom were apparently starving to death where they stood.

"Stop being dramatic. That's Mustang's job," Edward scolded good-naturedly at them as he handed over the bags he had to the two men and helped them start unpacking and sorting the food out.

"Thank you for the food, sir. Were you able to get everything done?" Hawkeye asked as she accepted her pasta dish and sat back down at her desk.

"Yeah. Were you able to get them rooms in the dorms, Captain?" Ed asked and Hawkeye nodded around her bite of pasta.

"Yes, sir. Fuery was correct. There were three open rooms next to each other on the floor above his. The BAU will have use of them for as long as they need them, sir."

"Awesome. Thanks, Captain," Ed gave her a smile before eating his own food. There was a knock at the door that startled just about everyone. It took Ed a couple of moments to realise why everyone was looking at him. "Oh! Right. Enter!" he called out to whoever was on the other side of the door while everyone else save Hawkeye, Falman, Hotch, and Rossi were quick to put food in their mouths to stop from laughing. "Shut up."

The door opened to reveal First Lieutenant Maria Ross and Master Sergeant Denny Brosh. "Lieutenant Ross! Brosh! Hi!" Ed said as he waved them into the room. They did so, closing the door as they entered.

"Hi, Ed. How are you?" Ross asked smiling at him and Alphonse, who was waving at her from where he sat next to Reid, opposite Edward.

"I'm good, considering," he shrugged. "So, what's up? We weren't expecting you until tomorrow."

"The assignment Major Armstrong had us on wrapped up earlier than anticipated," she said with a smile. "Major Armstrong suggested we head over to see if you were still here and to report early for our assignment with you."

Ed nodded before standing. "Awesome. This will save us some time tomorrow," he said before turning to the others. "You're going to be serving as liaisons for these six. These are agents Aaron Hotchner, Dave Rossi, Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan, Jennifer Jareau, and Doctor Reid." He pointed each agent out as he spoke. "Guys, this is First Lieutenant Maria Ross and her partner Master Sergeant Denny Brosh." They all exchanged nods and greetings before Ross turned back to Edward.

"Major Armstrong only told us that we were acting as liaison for a group of foreign specialists whom Führer Grumman had permitted to work on Brigadier General Mustang's case. Is there anything in particular that we should know?" Her tone was respectful but curious.

"Yeah. You guys were there when Armstrong, Al and our Teacher brought Mustang and me back through the portal that one time, remember?" Both officers nodded. "These six are some of the people we met the first time we wound up in their dimension." Their eyes snapped back to look at the agents, scrutinising them as they took in the new information.

"Okay. Is there a special story we're supposed to use if someone asks their nationality?" Ross wondered, her eyes lingering on Morgan. Of all the agents, he was going to be the one who stood out the most in Central since there were very few citizens of Amestris with skin as dark as his. It wasn't unheard of, especially in a city as large as Central, but it was rare.

"Not really," Ed shrugged. "Just tell whoever asks that that information is classified unless the Führer has read them in. If they try to say they have been read in, point out that if they were read in, they would know where the agents are from and the fact that they're asking tells you they weren't in fact read in, and you aren't authorised to tell them. If they push the matter, tell them to take it up with me or the Führer."

"Yes, sir. Congratulations on your promotion, by the way," Ross said, nudging his shoulder with a smile.

Edward groaned. "I swear I'm painting Mustang's office the most hideous colour I can think of before I give it back to him," he muttered, causing everyone to laugh good naturedly, even though Hawkeye gave him a warning look. But, there wasn't any actual reprimand, so Ed wondered if he'd actually get away with it.

* * *

"So what's the plan, Edward?" Ross asked after everyone had settled down after finishing their diner and chatting for a few minutes.

"It depends on your charges. This team will work in tandem with the agents and when needed, we'll follow their lead," Ed told her, relaxing back in his chair. "Brosh, I think between Al, Mustang's team, and myself, we probably won't need you to be here all day with us, but we might be calling on you from time to time if we have to divide up into small groups or partners in order to do all the things that the agents need us to do." Brosh nodded. "I just need the two of you to help them stay within the military's protocols and ensure that no one tries to get in their way. We can't afford to have the generals turn around and have any evidence they come up with that might help Mustang win dismissed because of some insignificant protocol they didn't know about and accidentally violated." Both officers nodded.

"So, how do you guys normally operate on a case like this?" Al asked, leaning forward with interest. Everyone else turned to look at the members of the BAU, waiting for their answer. Hotch took the lead.

"Ordinarily we would start by having Garcia run deep background checks on all the victims, cross-referencing each and every detail of their lives to see what connections we could use to try and figure out how the victims are being targeted and why. I'll admit that we are a touch out of our depth without the help of the technology we're used to, but I'm positive we'll be able to figure out who is really behind these crimes, especially with your help," he said, with a tight smile. "Reid," the young doctor sat up a little straighter, "since we don't have Garcia with us, I want you to read everything. You'll be our computer for this case. Commit every detail to memory. If Edward or any of Mustang's team thinks it's important or could be important, you read it." Reid nodded, but Hotch was interrupted before he could continue.

"How do you expect him to remember everything?" Breda asked. If the glare Hawkeye was giving him was anything to go by, he might be in trouble.

"I have an eidetic memory," Reid explained. "That means I can remember every detail of everything I've read, done, or heard. You guys might know it as a photographic memory." Ed and Al immediately sat up straighter and looked at each other.

"Miss Sheska!" they said at the same time.

"Al, Fuery, head to Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' office and see if we can't borrow Miss Sheska for a few days. Tell her and Brookes I'll pay for her to take some personal time if he can't officially let her help," Ed ordered. The two headed for the doors before anyone else could say anything.

"Good thinking, sir," Ross and Hawkeye said at the same time. Everyone who wasn't Amestrian had expressions of confusion on their faces.

"Miss Sheska is a friend of ours," Ed explained. "She has a memory like Reid's. If she can help, it might make things easier on Reid. He'd only have to memorise half of the information and they can bounce the info off of each other."

"If she can help, we would welcome it," Hotch told him before looking back at the group. "While Reid and Sheska do that, I want Morgan to get together with whomever on your team spends the most time around Mustang, whomever it is who has the most knowledge of every part of his life. We need to get started on the possibility of this being the result of a stalker with a grudge or someone with a very skewed idea of how to show their admiration, and Morgan's our expert on obsession-based crimes and stalkers," Hotch said.

"Captain Hawkeye, do you think you can deal with working with Morgan for a while?" Ed asked as Morgan huffed indignantly at the taunt about his working attitude.

"I think I can manage that, sir, along with my other duties," she told him blandly.

"Thank you, Captain," Hotch said. "Rossi and I will start looking into this as politically motivated. Prentiss, I want your help with that. If it's possible, I'd like to have an interview with the Führer to talk to him about the politics involved in this situation."

"I'll see what I can do. I'm sure he'll be able to spare a few minutes of his time," Hawkeye said reassuringly.

"I'd appreciate it, Captain," Hotch told her. "JJ, I know there's no media for you to liaise with right now, but I was hoping you could be a floater for us and work with both teams and Lieutenant Ross. In the meantime, make a list of all the people that have been interviewed already in regards to the case, but also make a note of anyone that Lieutenant Colonel Brookes hasn't been able to contact yet. I'm going to want to do some follow-up interviews with those people." JJ nodded. "Edward, I want you and your brother on the alchemy side of things. I don't know what that could really entail, but I trust that you'll keep us informed of your progress."

Ed sighed, but nodded. Hotch and Hawkeye both gave him a Look that had him raising his hands in a placating gesture. "Of course I will." Hawkeye gave him a look that told him what would happen if he didn't.

"As for everyone else; I know it's not the most flattering or important of jobs, but I'd appreciate at least one member of your team anytime someone needs to go somewhere, whether it's to interview someone or anything else of the like," Hotch finished. "I don't doubt that Lieutenant Ross and Master Sergeant Brosh are good, but they can't be in two places at once, and like Edward said, we cannot afford to give the generals any kind of ammunition to dismiss our findings."

"You got it Hotch," Ed told him as the office door opened to permit a breathless Alphonse and Fuery. "What happened?" he asked, immediately getting to his feet at the sight of his brother and friend.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes said he couldn't authorise Miss Sheska to work with us at the same time she was employed under his command because it would be a conflict of interest," Al said, holding up his hand when Ed went to say something. "However, he said that he couldn't tell her what to do on her personal time. He told us that as long as he doesn't see Miss Sheska working for us, he won't have to tell the generals. Miss Sheska filed for a week's leave, effective tomorrow morning."

Ed whooped. "Yes! I knew we could count on her!" he grinned excitedly. It finally felt like they had a solid plan, despite the fact that Ed preferred winging it. He knew this was one case where he would follow someone else's lead with no argument.

"When Sheska arrives, she and Reid can figure out between themselves who will be memorising what. Until then, I suggest everyone get themselves familiarised with as much as possible. Get reading," Hotch ordered. Alphonse and Fuery got themselves settled in just as everyone grabbed a file before they did the same. After a few moments, there was no noise aside from the gentle flick of papers being turned or put aside.

A/N - Alright, so this one isn't as long as the other chapters but hopefully you guys will still enjoy it! As always, many thanks to my beta, PhoenixQueen, for her hard work on revising this chapter, and many thanks to everyone who has been leaving reviews on previous chapters.

GuestP - I'm so glad you liked the previous chapter so much! Yes, Grumman and Ed interacting is always fun to write and I loved pissing off the generals so much XD I wish I could've put Garcia in this story more than just as mentions but I just couldn't since it made more sense that she stay behind to try and stop people noticing the other agents absence and there's nothing in Amestris for her to do since there's minimal technology. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

As for everyone else, please, if you read this chapter or story, please leave a review. They honestly help my motivation so much and I love hearing peoples thoughts on what they think about this story. Seriously, it makes my whole day when I read a new review and authors just love them so please leave one? I'll see you all next week!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight –**

As she'd promised Ed when she'd left the office, Hawkeye reported for work at six a.m. the next morning. She'd only gotten a few hours of sleep the previous night, mainly because she hadn't left the office until nearly midnight and she'd still had to take Black Hayate out on his evening walk. When she walked into the office and spotted Ed and Al still pouring over the case files and whispering things to each other, she really wished she could have been surprised. A quick glance around the office told her that no one else was in the office yet.

"Please tell me you haven't been here all night, boys," she said as she walked through the door. Ed and Al looked up at her entrance before going back to what they were working on.

"We grabbed a couple of hours on the couches in Mustang's office," Ed mumbled around the pen in his mouth as he sorted through more papers. Al nodded as he did the same, grabbing one and showing Ed something. Ed looked and nodded at it, indicating that Al should put it on a certain pile.

"Have you found anything so far?" Hawkeye asked as she knelt next to them to see if she could figure out what they were doing.

"Well, Al spoke to Mustang while I was in Resembool and got some good tips for figuring out the difference between flame alchemy and a normal fire," Ed told her and she nodded. She knew this, as she had been the one to suggest Alphonse go talk to the flame alchemist. "Al dug up a lot of Mustang's case files where he'd been forced to use his alchemy to take someone out. He found some good starting points and was able to get enough information out of the pictures of these victims compared to the ones from Mustang's older cases that any jury should start to have some doubts," Ed explained, giving Al a small but proud smile.

"So what are you doing now?" Hawkeye asked, looking between the two of them as Al took the opportunity to stretch.

"Well, Brother had this idea that maybe the person who's framing the general is an alchemist of some description and _maybe_ they used their alchemy for some reason before they attacked," Al told her as Ed nodded.

"So you're looking for signs of other alchemy performed in the alley?" she asked and they both nodded.

"Yeah. You see, with certain alchemies you can sometimes tell roughly how old the transmutation is," Ed told her. "It takes a long time to learn to be able to spot the signs but we can – Teacher insisted on making sure of that before she let us leave her tutelage the first time." He gave her a reassuring smile, like he wasn't sure she would have faith in them. "If there is any sign of alchemy having been performed recently in these alleys, we'll see it. Brookes' team was very thorough with their photographing of the scenes," Ed said as he passed Al more pictures to look at.

"That was a good idea, Ed. Good thinking," she praised. Ed's cheeks flushed slightly as he nodded as her compliment. Hawkeye got back to her feet and checked her desk. As she'd hoped, the day's paperwork was there, waiting for her and Ed to work on it together. "Edward?" He looked at her. "The paperwork is here," she told him and he nodded.

"Just give me a minute. I think I might have something here and I don't want to lose it," Ed told her and she nodded, allowing him the minute he asked for.

"Do you see where I'm going with this, Al?" Ed asked, gently nudging his brother after the minute was up. He showed Al the various papers and pictures he had spread out around himself. Al leaned over and started looking at them. Ed helpfully pointed some things to help Al make the connection without telling him outright what he was seeing.

"Oh! Good catch!" Al said once he figured it out. Ed grinned before clapping him on the back and standing up, leaving Al to keep chasing the idea and see where it led them.

Ed settled at the desk next to Hawkeye and she helpfully handed over the paperwork she had already sorted out. He tucked his right leg up under himself and leaned forward so he could start reading the papers in front of him and doing whatever he needed to. There was more paperwork today than there had been the previous day but Ed wasn't surprised. Hawkeye had said that Grumman had sent most of the accumulated paperwork to other departments for them to do. Only the paperwork that had absolutely needed Mustang's – well Ed's for the time being – signature or input had been sent by the Führer for completion the past two days. Today, however, all of the paperwork Mustang would've gotten was sent.

* * *

Ed was so concentrated on the paperwork that he never heard the door open to permit Falman and Havoc. They grinned at the sight of Ed and Hawkeye working together before offering good mornings to all three occupants. Al and Hawkeye returned the greetings, but Ed muttered something incomprehensible before making a note on the paper he was reading and then going back to reading it. Havoc shook his head fondly as he took a seat near Al and asked him if he needed any help. Falman just sat down at his own desk and picked up where he had left off the night previous.

A few minutes after Havoc and Falman had entered the office, Breda and Fuery walked through the doors with the BAU following behind them. Ed and Hawkeye were still tackling the paperwork the office needed to get done while everyone else continued with their research or their own paperwork for the day. Ed frowned at a particular piece of paper before looking up to get Hawkeye's help in explaining what he was supposed to do with it when he spotted the second group.

"Hey guys. When did you get in?" he asked. Havoc laughed while Falman shook his head slightly at him. "What?" Ed asked, frowning in confusion.

"Falman and I have been here for twenty minutes, chief." Havoc chortled as Ed flushed slightly.

"I was reading. Leave me alone," Ed grumbled at him.

"We only just got here, Ed." JJ told him and Ed gave her a small smile before scowling at Havoc when he continued chuckling. Ed raised his hands to clap, but Hawkeye grabbed his arm.

"No," she told him sternly.

"I wasn't gonna do anything _too _bad," Ed whined, but Hawkeye wasn't moved and Ed sighed before lowering both of his arms. Havoc seemed to only realise just at that moment how much danger he had been in as his chuckles abruptly cut off and he was watching Ed with a touch of fear. Ed looked satisfied with that before turning his attention to the BAU team. "Were you guys alright last night?" he asked, knowing first hand that the military dorms weren't that great to sleep in.

"Yep," Morgan told him. "We've slept in worse over the years."

"Awesome." Ed smiled before Hawkeye cleared her throat pointedly and Ed gave her an apologetic grin before looking at the BAU again. "Are you guys okay to do whatever you need to do for the next few minutes while I finish up here?" he asked.

Hotch nodded. "Yes, we just need to wait for Lieutenant Ross before we split up to take on different tasks for the day."

Ed glanced at the clock. "She should be here any minute. She said she'd be here by seven a.m. I think she was planning on picking Miss Sheska up on her way in," Ed told them. Apparently Sheska and Ross didn't live that far from one another, so Ross had told Ed that she would pick the mousey woman up since she didn't have a vehicle of her own and it could possibly raise questions if she was seen walking onto the base every day while she was supposed to be on personal leave.

Reid and JJ settled next to Al to see what he was working on. A few minutes into the conversation had JJ bowing out when she couldn't keep up anymore. Reid and Al barely noticed her leave to join back up with the rest of the BAU as they went over their plans for the day. Falman, Havoc, and Breda joined in on their conversation since it would be likely that the three of them would be the ones to escort the BAU agents where they needed to go, alongside Lieutenant Ross and – at need – Master Sergeant Brosh.

Speaking of, there was a knock at the door that startled Ed out of his work once more. He called for whoever was on the other side to enter and the door swung open to reveal Lieutenant Ross and Sheska. Ross nodded to everyone while Sheska kept back and to herself, a little unsure and shy. Before Ed could do or say anything, JJ stepped forward and gave the brunette a sunny smile as she offered her hand.

"Hi, you must be Sheska. I'm Jennifer, but everyone calls me JJ. It's lovely to meet you," JJ said as the other woman grasped her hand softly.

"It's nice to meet you too," Sheska said, returning JJ's smile a little hesitantly. As a bookworm, she'd never been very good at meeting new people.

"Would you like to meet the rest of my team?" JJ asked as she let go of Sheska's hand. Sheska nodded and JJ led her over to where the majority of the BAU had been standing. Ross had gone over to Al and Reid to see what they were up to and Ed had gone back to his paperwork once he was certain that Sheska would be alright. "This is Hotch, Morgan, Prentiss, and Rossi. Reid is the one sitting on the ground with Alphonse," JJ told her. Sheska gave everyone a small wave.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sheska. Thank you for agreeing to help us out," Hotch said, offering his hand, which Sheska took.

"You're welcome. I owe Ed and Al a lot, so I'm happy to help them out."

"You don't owe us anything, Miss Sheska," Al piped up suddenly. "You got hired by Mr. Hughes because you were the one best suited for the job. Lieutenant Colonel Brookes knows that as well. We didn't do anything to help with that," Al told her kindly but sternly.

"I don't know what we're arguing about but Al's probably right," Ed told them, not even looking up from the papers. Hawkeye was pointing at the paper he was currently looking at and explaining whatever was on the page to Ed. Everyone else grinned at Ed's trust in his brother. Sheska smiled at Al and didn't try to argue since she was no stranger to the Elrics' infamous strain of stubbornness.

"Now that Sheska and Lieutenant Ross are here, we should get to work. Morgan, you stay here until Captain Hawkeye is able to spare a few minutes to talk with you. After you're finished with her, take Reid and one of Mustang's team to visit the brigadier general and question him about the stalker angle," Hotch ordered. Morgan and Reid nodded their compliance. "In the meantime, Reid, I'd like you and Sheska to sort through the files and decide who reads what. After that, memorise everything and compare notes. The rest of us will be relying on the two of you to be able to give us any relevant information and to hopefully find that tiny detail that will give us a real lead or a better suspect."

Sheska paled slightly at the unintentional pressure his words had put on her, but she snuck a glance at Reid, who looked calm, and Sheska told herself to stop being silly. She wasn't going to be the only one working on this case, after all.

"Agent Hotchner," Hawkeye spoke before Hotch could say whatever he had been about to, "I spoke with Führer Grumman this morning before coming in. He has granted you a meeting at eight-thirty this morning."

"Thank you, Captain Hawkeye." She nodded before turning back to her own work. "Since it's nearly eight a.m. now, Rossi, Prentiss, Lieutenant Ross and I will head to the Führer's office and wait there for our meeting. Lieutenant Ross can fill us in on any protocol we need to follow," Hotch said, looking at everyone. "JJ, would you stay here and help wherever you can? We'll reconvene at lunch time to see what everyone has managed to find out." JJ nodded. Everyone else gave their agreements with the plan to meet up at lunchtime. "Lieutenant Ross, if you wouldn't mind taking the lead?" Hotch asked as he gestured towards the door.

"Of course. If you'll follow me?" she said before heading out the door. Hotch, Rossi, and Prentiss hurried out behind her, the door clicking softly shut behind them.

* * *

The walk to the Führer's office was spent with Lieutenant Ross glaring at any of the soldiers whom they passed who seemed too interested in the strangers, while Hotch, Rossi, and Prentiss pretended they didn't see the staring. If they were being honest, they were fairly used to it though. Other than that, the walk was silent. None of them spoke, as they didn't want to risk people overhearing Ross explaining this world to them or the BAU members asking questions they should know the answers to if they were Amestrians.

When they arrived at the Führer's office, the three BAU members left everything up to the lieutenant, more interested in watching her behaviour so they could learn to mimic it, should they ever have to interact with other Amestrians without an escort for whatever reason.

"Good morning, Lieutenant Ross," Samantha greeted with a smile as they walked in through the massive double doors to the antechamber.

"Good morning, Samantha," Ross greeted. "I apologise for our early arrival. Is it alright for us to wait out here until our appointment?"

"Of course, Lieutenant. Please take a seat," Samantha indicated the couches at the other end of the room from her desk. "His Excellency will be with you as soon as he is able."

"Thank you, Samantha." Ross bowed slightly before walking them over to the couches which would offer them enough privacy to talk about anything they needed to. Samantha picked up the phone to call the Führer and alert him of their arrival.

"Is there anything you believe we should know before we speak with the Führer?" Hotch asked as they waited.

Ross considered the question for a moment. "Führer Grumman isn't quite as severe as some of our other Führers have been when it comes to correct address. You may call him 'Führer', 'Führer Grumman', 'Sir', or 'Your Excellency'. Be polite and respectful towards him, but also be as thorough and quick with your questioning as possible. We have a limited amount of time here today, and it's unlikely we could get another appointment within the next few days, should you need to ask more questions. If you wish, I can do the talking to start with and you can take your cues from me."

The agents relaxed minutely at the offer. "We may take you up on that offer," Rossi told her with a half-grin.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Lieutenant Ross and Prentiss ended up sharing a seat while Hotch and Rossi took the one directly across from the ladies as they waited patiently for their audience. After a few minutes, however, the three agents noticed Ross giving them a sideways glance every now and then.

"Lieutenant Ross, was there something you would like to ask us?" Hotch asked after exchanging a meaningful glance with his teammates.

"I apologise for staring," Ross flushed slightly at the realisation she had been caught out. "I was just curious as to why the three of you were the ones out of your team who came to talk to Führer Grumman."

Hotch considered her for a moment. "Back in our world, I used to be a federal prosecutor before I joined the BAU. I understand exactly what the prosecutor looks for and what they need to feel confident in bringing a case to trial and securing a guilty verdict. I've also worked alongside the military and have experience with the way they operate when they have a criminal case in the works. Agent Rossi was a founding member of the Behavioural Analysis Unit, the branch of the FBI we work for. He also has the deepest understanding of the military out of our entire team as he worked for our country's Marine Corps. Agent Rossi will be able to help us with the military side of things more than the other members of our team." Rossi nodded in agreement. "Agent Prentiss, on the other hand, is one of our greatest political minds. Her mother is an ambassador for our country and she was raised in several foreign countries and was taught all about politics and how they operate, both in the public's eye and behind closed doors. Her job will be to take the information we gather from Führer Grumman, yourself, and Mustang's team to see who would have the most to gain from Mustang's imprisonment, or who would be the person most likely to be behind this kind of frame job. That is, which politician – or in this case, military higher-up – would have the motivation, opportunity, and means to do this."

Ross nodded slowly as she processed the information. "So you'll be thinking like the prosecutor for this case while Agent Rossi uses his military knowledge and his intimate knowledge of how your unit operates to work on this case while Agent Prentiss uses her political knowledge as her guideline to help with this case?"

"More or less, yes. The rest of our team will be looking for other angles or other motivations for a frame job this complex and involved," Hotch replied. There was silence for another few moments. "May I ask you a question Lieutenant Ross?"

"Of course."

"When Edward was speaking with Führer Grumman to get us permission to allow us to work on this case, your name was the first one Edward suggested as a liaison for us. He told the Führer that you would have a vested interest in seeing this case brought to justice because your commanding officer's sister was the only surviving victim, and that you're a decent person who wants to see the right person put away for these crimes. I got the impression from what he said and from meeting you yesterday that there is more to that story than the reasons he gave Führer Grumman. Why would you be the first person Edward would pick? I'm sure there are plenty of other good personnel that Edward trusts and who would want to see the real killer brought to justice."

Ross blinked in surprise. "I didn't realise that Edward chose me to be your team's liaison. I had assumed that Führer Grumman had been the one to recommend me." She was silent for a moment. "I owe General Mustang more than I could ever hope to repay him, since he saved my career, my reputation, and my life. Almost two years ago, before the Promised Day, Brosh and I were assigned to be Edward's and Alphonse's bodyguards as a serial killer targeting State Alchemists was on the loose."

"That wouldn't have been Scar, would it?" Prentiss asked, recalling Edward mentioning that he had started writing to a redeemed serial killer while they were at the NCIS headquarters in D.C. helping to track Moore down.

"Yes, it was," Ross replied with a nod. "Scar had already attacked Edward once in East City and nearly killed him and Alphonse both. If Brigadier General Mustang and his team hadn't realised that Edward was a target and shown up in time, Edward would have been killed. Major Armstrong accompanied Edward and Alphonse back home to Resembool so that Edward could get his automail arm fixed. After that, they went to Central instead of reporting back in to the general in East City, as they'd acquired a strong lead in regards to the Philosopher's Stone, which was the object of their search at the time. On their trip to Resembool, they'd run into a former State Alchemist who had been doing research on the Stone and told them that there was information hidden in the First Branch of the National Library. That was where Brosh and I met them – when they arrived in Central, they went straight to the library, only to find that the library had been burned to ashes the day before. Brosh and I were assigned to keep an eye on Edward and Alphonse while the hunt for Scar was ongoing. We actually met Miss Sheska because she had read and remembered every letter of the hidden information and she was able to write it all out for Edward and Alphonse so they could decipher it and learn what it said."

"I was wondering how they'd crossed paths," Prentiss said with a quirk of her lips.

"Did Edward ever tell you about the fifth laboratory, where he'd first encountered the homunculi?" Ross asked and the agents shook their heads. "Okay. Edward and Alphonse were able to decode the notes once Miss Sheska copied them down and they learned what the main ingredient to make a Philosopher's Stone was. They ordered Brosh and me not to tell anyone until they'd had time to figure everything out. Unfortunately, Major Armstrong can be very persuasive and we were forced to tell him. He and the boys spoke about it and realised that the fifth laboratory here in Central was likely the only place where the military could be running their experiments on the Stone without anyone finding out, as it was right next to Central Prison."

"Because the main ingredient in a Philosopher's Stone was human life and no one would question prisoners on death row being killed," Hotch shuddered slightly at the thought and Rossi and Prentiss both looked ill.

Ross nodded. "Exactly. Major Armstrong ordered them to stay in their hotel room while he investigated, but they disobeyed orders and snuck out that night and went to the fifth lab to investigate for themselves. Alphonse stayed outside and Ed went inside to see what he could discover. Well, Edward found what they had suspected they would, but he was attacked by an animated suit of armour that had two human souls bonded to it. The souls had been a pair of serial killing brothers known as the Slicer Brothers who had eventually been caught."

"Wait, I'm sorry, but did you say that someone _bonded_ a pair of human souls to a suit of armour?" Prentiss asked; her tone one of horror and confusion.

"Yes, they used a special type of array to do so. Didn't Edward tell you about –?" Maria cut herself off when she noticed their blank looks. Her expression turned serious. "It's not my place to say anymore on that subject. But yes, someone bonded the Slicer Brothers' souls to a suit of armour and they attacked Edward. He won the fight, but he was severely injured doing so. While Ed was fighting inside, Alphonse was fighting another serial killer who had been transmuted into soul-bonded armour known as Barry the Chopper outside the lab and that was the scene Brosh and I walked in on.

"Although he'd had the opportunity to do so, Edward chose not to kill the Slicer Brothers. He treated them as if they were still human, despite their current form, and in gratitude they were about to tell him the secrets of the laboratory when two of the homunculi, Lust and Envy, walked in and destroyed them. Envy and Edward fought, but Edward had lost a lot of blood and damaged his automail again, and Envy defeated him. The homunculi blew the laboratory up and brought Edward out to us so that we could get him to a hospital," she continued. "Because of this, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and Major Armstrong started their own investigation into the homunculi and the military."

"They were looking to expose the corruption in the military that Edward told us about?" Rossi asked.

Ross nodded grimly. "Edward has always blamed himself for this, but after he was released from the hospital, he and Alphonse went to Dublith to visit their alchemy teacher, and while they were gone, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes was killed by the homunculus Envy." Her tone turned sad. "We didn't know it at the time, but all of the homunculi had a special ability. Envy's special ability was to shape-shift into any form he chose. He took my form to confront Lieutenant Colonel Hughes before he could get word to General Mustang about what he'd found out and shot him while he was making a phone call to East City. He was posthumously promoted to brigadier general, and the investigation went cold. A little over a month later, the military received a tip that I was the person seen entering the area where the brigadier general had been killed about the same time the gunshot was heard. They came after me immediately. Even though the only evidence they had was the fact that the caliber of my side arm was the same as the bullet that killed General Hughes, they decided that was enough to prove my guilt. I had fired a single round at the fifth laboratory to defend Alphonse from Barry the Chopper, but I had only my word about it. I was convicted without even receiving a trial and was going to be put in front of a firing squad within a matter of days."

The three agents looked horrified at the idea, which warmed her a bit even though the memory of those events still chilled her at just how close an escape she'd had.

"That's awful," Prentiss couldn't help but say and Maria gave her a small smile.

"It was, but under Führer Grumman's command, the military is a lot stricter about people getting fair trials, the way they were supposed to be done," she assured her before continuing. "I was in a jail cell and facing the firing squad when I was aided in escaping. Brigadier General Mustang arranged my escape and helped me flee the country, but in doing so he had to create a fake body and set it on fire in front of Edward. The general and his team smuggled me out of Amestris and to the ruins of Xerxes. I was there for a few days before Edward and Major Armstrong were brought out to the ruins to learn that I was still alive. The event did strain Edward and General Mustang's relationship for a long time, but once the Promised Day was over, Führer Grumman pardoned me for my escape and reinstated me into the military." She looked a little sad. "But I think that's why Edward would have chosen me. He knows I was nearly killed because the military didn't bother investigating my case. They got a tip saying I was there and they nearly had me in front of a firing squad before General Mustang was able to orchestrate my escape. I don't want to see anyone else go through that kind of disgusting display of abuse of power ever again. I know that Edward knows that and he knows I won't bow down to the generals if they try to force me. He also knows that I can be trusted to not say anything about where you come from."

"Thank you for telling us, Lieutenant Ross," Hotch said and she gave him a small, but honest, smile.

"Lieutenant Ross?" Samantha called as she approached them.

Ross stood up immediately as she made her way to meet the other woman halfway across the room. "Yes, Samantha?" The three agents stood up and followed her.

"Führer Grumman is ready to see you now. If you'll follow me, please?" Samantha turned and headed for the double doors leading to the Führer's inner office. Ross and the agents followed close behind her. She stopped and knocked before opening the doors. "Your Excellency, Lieutenant Ross and three of the consultants for General Mustang's defense are here to see you."

"Thank you Samantha. Let them through," Grumman said as he looked at them from behind his desk. Samantha nodded before opening the door wider and stood aside while the agents and Ross moved past her. Once all four were inside, Grumman nodded to dismiss her and she retreated, pulling the door closed as she went. "Lieutenant Ross, Agents Hotchner, Rossi, and Prentiss, what can I do for you today?" He leaned back in his chair as he studied them.

"Führer Grumman, thank you for agreeing to meet with us, sir," Ross said as she snapped a sharp saluted that he was quick to release her from. "The agents wish to speak to you about Brigadier General Mustang, sir."

"I figured as much. Please, have a seat," Grumman indicated the three chairs in front of his desk. The agents looked at Ross, who shook her head, before they took the seats. Ross moved to stand in parade rest between Hotch and Prentiss. "What would you like to know?" Grumman asked, leaning forward slightly to show he was paying complete attention to them.

"One of our working theories after reviewing the case files Lieutenant Colonel Brookes has assembled is that there is a political motive behind General Mustang being framed," Hotch began. "We would like to know what you can tell us about the politics surrounding the high command and what the generals might stand to gain if General Mustang were no longer in the picture, to begin with," Hotch began and the Führer seemed to mull his answer over.

"Brigadier General Mustang is a very dedicated and loyal member of the military. If I were not convinced of his dedication to this country and to the protection of its citizens, I would never have promoted him to the rank of brigadier general. He is very sure of what his goals are and he's not afraid of what it may take for him to reach those goals. Many of the members of the high command are nervous about what his goals could mean for them." He paused for another moment, clearly weighing his words. "General Mustang is young to be holding the rank he does and that makes some of the other members of the high command feel threatened. There are some generals in the ranks – like Lieutenant General Olivier Armstrong – who aren't bothered by General Mustang or what he has planned for his future and what it could mean for them personally or professionally. There are, of course, a select few – like myself – who fully support General Mustang and his goals. With Brigadier General Mustang out of the picture, as you say, a lot of the higher ranking officers would no longer have to worry about the threat he poses to them and their positions."

"Why would General Mustang be a threat to their positions if they weren't doing anything illegal or against military protocols?" Rossi asked.

Grumman raised an eyebrow pointedly. "We have come a long way from the late Führer Bradley's reign; however it has only been seven months since the Promised Day. We could only arrest and punish those who had openly supported the Promised Day plans or the ones we were able to uncover evidence against that proved they had supported the plans. Between those who died and those who were arrested, the vast majority of Bradley's administration was decimated. There were plenty of lower ranked military members who have been promoted to fill the ranks in order to help with the rebuilding and to maintain order in the rest of the country. In the spirit of being completely truthful, many of them wouldn't have been offered those promotions if it could have been helped, like Lieutenant Brigadier General Henley, the fourth confirmed victim. If we had had the evidence that General Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Elric have gathered over the last few months at the time she was promoted, she would never have been offered a promotion and would have been arrested."

He sighed. "Technically speaking, none of the generals may be doing anything illegal, however it would not surprise me to learn that some of their actions could, at the very minimum, be considered immoral. Under Führer Bradley's reign, a lot of highly immoral and slightly illegal things were often overlooked. Some of the generals are angry that my reign means stricter enforcement of military protocols and laws. They also know that General Mustang is one of the people I trust completely to help me enforce those laws and rules."

"Would you be able to give us the names of some of those who might be happier than others to see Mustang in jail or executed for these crimes?" Hotch asked.

Grumman gave him an apologetic look. "No. I'm sorry. I cannot accuse any member of this military of being involved in setting up General Mustang without evidence." Despite the firmness of his words, his tone was filled with regret. "If word somehow managed to leave this office that I had given you names of officers to investigate as being the perpetrator of these crimes or at least the brains behind framing Brigadier General Mustang on nothing more than the fact that they don't like him, I would have the generals yelling for my blood and my resignation on the basis of obvious favouritism and bias against those who had served in high position under Führer King Bradley."

The BAU agents weren't surprised by his answer, but they were a little disappointed, if they were being honest. Then there was a slight sparkle in Grumman's eye. "You saw the way that General Combes and General Widdon acted when Lieutenant Colonel Elric asked permission to allow you to work on the case. They would be even angrier if I gave names for you to investigate because those people happened to dislike General Mustang."

Prentiss, who had been taking notes throughout the conversation, was quick to jot the names down with a nod at the Führer.

"We understand, Führer Grumman. Thank you anyway," Hotch said before moving on. "The next thing that we wanted to ask about was the Ishvalan Civil War. We understand the second victim, Major Colin Pardi, was very vocal about how General Mustang and others should have been charged with war crimes for their actions in Ishval. We understand that you have pardoned their actions, but there very well could be a reason for these crimes amongst their actions. We would like to know what crimes General Mustang could have been accused of, to see if those reasons could be a possible motive."

Grumman sighed. "General Mustang technically could have been charged with intentionally killing civilians, as well as causing serious and unnecessary injury to combatants and civilians alike, and purposefully destroying their property and buildings. Of course, there were other soldiers who could have been charged with far worse than that, but Brigadier General Mustang could only have been charged with those crimes, due to the devastation caused by his flame alchemy." At their stunned looks, he shook his head. "Frankly speaking, agents, the Ishvalan Civil War was nothing short of genocide, in the guise of putting down a group of dissidents who were seeking to destabilise our country. Brigadier General Mustang was following the orders of the late Führer Bradley, but even he acknowledges that doesn't make his actions excusable. However, he also was the one who led the attack against the homunculi and their Father on the Promised Day, and his actions then directly led to the survival of fifty million people, including the surviving Ishvalans. It was for that reason that I proposed his name among those I wished to offer pardons to for their actions during the war and it was because of his actions on the Promised Day that the Ishvalan people agreed to the pardon."

Rossi frowned thoughtfully. "As Führer, don't you have the power to pardon without the consent of the populace?"

Grumman nodded. "Of course. However, in an effort of good faith, when I was preparing to offer the pardons, I first sent the list of names and crimes to the Ishvalan elders and other prominent Ishvalan citizens to decide who on that list should receive a pardon, as they were the ones most directly affected by what our military had done. They then took their names to their people and held meetings so the remaining survivors could have their say. There were many who could not be forgiven for their crimes, so they were arrested and tried in a court of law. General Mustang, Captain Hawkeye, and Major Armstrong were among those whom the Ishvalans agreed should be pardoned. Those who didn't immediately agree weren't angry enough to start any problems when the pardon was issued."

"So there wasn't anyone angry enough with the pardons to try to get their own revenge?" Rossi asked.

Grumman shook his head. "No. Those who were angry to start with weren't enraged enough to do this. As part of our new treaty with Ishval, we have an agreement that if either of our governments hears anything about a revenge plan or a threat against the other, that country is to warn the one in danger. I know that Lieutenant Colonel Elric exchanges regular correspondence with one of the prominent members of the Ishvalan Council of Elders, and he hasn't mentioned anything to me about his friend telling him about a possible threat against Amestris or Brigadier General Mustang. In fact, from what he has told me, most of the Ishvalans are grateful for Mustang's efforts in helping with the restoration of their holy land, as he has personally taken over command and coordination of those who are assisting with the rebuilding and resettling of the Ishvalans who survived the war."

"So we can most likely rule out the Ishvalan Civil War as a motive," Prentiss said before looking over her notes again. "What about the coup to defeat the late Führer, sir? Can you tell us anything about that?"

"What would you like to know?" Grumman asked.

"How was General Mustang able to get so much information on the late Führer and his inner circle of generals and other supporters?" Prentiss asked.

"A great deal of his information actually came from the Führer himself," Grumman told them, much to their surprise. "As I understand it, one of Lieutenant Colonel Elric's friends was a young man named Ling Yao. This young man offered to assist the Elrics in capturing one of the homunculi to try to get information out of them, and during the attempt he found himself facing Führer Bradley in combat. He learned that Bradley was a homunculus and shared that information with the Elrics and General Mustang after he managed to escape. General Mustang went to one of the generals that I had told him I believed could still be trusted, only to discover that the entire high command had turned to Bradley's side for the promise of power and immortality."

"And the late Führer allowed him to live?" Hotch asked in surprise.

Grumman nodded. "Part of it was due to arrogance – the homunculi had been manipulating this country for so long, and they were so close to achieving their objective that they didn't believe they could be stopped. The other part was that General Mustang was a candidate for them to use as a sacrifice in the final stages of their plan, so they couldn't harm him physically until the Promised Day. Instead, they hoped to control him by splitting up his team and sending them to less controlled areas of the country, where there was a chance that they might die in combat. Captain Hawkeye was kept here in Central, but was appointed as Bradley's personal assistant."

"He kept her a hostage against General Mustang's good behaviour," Rossi said grimly, and Grumman nodded.

"If he was being watched so closely, how was he able to gather so much information and help to organise the resistance he mentioned when he told us about the Promised Day?" Prentiss asked.

"Brigadier General Mustang has a vast and intricate network of informants working for him from a base here in Central. Since Central City is, well, Amestris' central point, most of the major train lines stop over here at some point along their route. The headquarters for General Mustang's information network is a popular place for men, military men in particular, to visit. General Mustang's aunt is a Madame at a bar that happens to double as a brothel. His informants are the women who work for his aunt and they gather information from their dates for the evening or from listening to drunken patrons. They pass the information along to General Mustang whenever he takes them out for dinner," Grumman explained. "No one ever clued in on the fact that General Mustang's 'dates' never went home with him or that they always returned to the same bar after their night out with him."

He paused for a moment, waiting to see if any of the agents had any questions. None were forthcoming, so Grumman continued. "Because of this, none of those who were within the high command expected Mustang's plans for the coup nor were they fully prepared for his resistance fighters. He and I had been in contact through his aunt, and as the general in charge of the Eastern region I was able to help prepare our troops by arranging for the transport of weapons into Central." He sighed before his voice turned hard. "Despite his efforts, General Mustang, Lieutenant Colonel Elric and the other sacrifices had no clue just how devastating the plans for the Promised Day were. We won, but not without a lot of casualties. That's the reason why Lieutenant Colonel Elric and General Mustang were so vocal and adamant that General Henley and others like her should be punished within the full extent of our laws."

"How was General Mustang able to sneak his resistance force into Central, sir?" Rossi asked. "Did he step on anyone's toes to do so?"

Grumman seemed to consider the question for a moment. "I do not believe anyone's toes were stepped on when he gathered his resistance fighters. I know that Warrant Officer Fuery and First Lieutenant Breda were injured at their posts after the general's team was disbanded and they were sent back to Central for treatment. At the time, Lieutenant Havoc had been grievously injured in the fight against one of the homunculi, the one known as Lust, but he was still able to assist in passing along messages to potential allies and to coordinate the procurement of weapons. First Lieutenant Falman had been sent north to Fort Briggs, so he arrived to help with the Briggs soldiers at the summons of Lieutenant General Armstrong a few weeks before the Promised Day. Captain Hawkeye had been kept here in Central, while General Mustang continued his duties here as well and used his information network to coordinate with the others. I had a few of my own trusted informants working to pass messages between myself and General Mustang, one of them being Captain Hawkeye's best friend Second Lieutenant Rebecca Catalina. Lieutenant Ross rendezvoused with her just before the battle for Central started."

Prentiss turned to look at Ross questioningly.

Ross nodded. "Rebecca and I commandeered an ice-cream truck and smuggled the weapons that Lieutenant Havoc had procured for our side into Central."

"I know that Lieutenant Colonel Elric and his brother had been separated for some reason before the fight and both brothers brought their own group of fighters in with them, but you would have to ask them for more information," Grumman continued.

"So it's also unlikely to find a motive amongst those arrangements," Hotch said, more to himself than the others. "There is one more thing I would like to ask you about, Your Excellency." Hotch kept steady eye contact with the man until he nodded once, giving him silent permission to continue. "Are you grooming Mustang to take over your position as Führer in the future, sir?"

Grumman expression changed to one of mild surprise at the question. "What makes you think I am, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Merely the fact that you're keeping Mustang under your wing, much as I believe you did when he was a colonel in East City and under your command. You also said that the generals know that Mustang would be one of the few whom you would trust to enforce all of the military's protocols and laws as they should be. To me, that makes me think that you're hoping to have Mustang assume command as Führer in the future, perhaps as your direct successor, sir."

Grumman looked impressed by the observation. "I won't deny that I believe Brigadier General Mustang would be a very suitable choice for Führer, assuming that his military career stays on track. I also won't deny that I am hopeful that he will be in a position to assume command as Führer by the time I'm ready to retire. However, I do not believe that I am – as you put it – grooming him as such. I may be keeping an eye on him and offering advice, but that is no more than what I do for other officers in whom I see potential. General Mustang wants to be able to prove that he would be suitable for the office of Führer without any outside force making his goal easier to attain and that would include me offering help, advice, or favours that I wouldn't offer to anyone else. The rank he has achieved he has done through his own efforts and dedication to the military both as an officer and a State Alchemist."

"If you don't mind my asking, Your Excellency, but why do _you_ believe Mustang to be innocent of these crimes as much as you do?" Prentiss asked and Grumman leaned back in his seat, steepling his fingers.

"I know General Mustang very well, considering the time we spent together while he was stationed in East City. He proved himself to be eager to learn, a natural leader, and willing to take on additional duties outside of the ones that he was assigned to. I entrusted him with a great many assignments that I ordinarily wouldn't have assigned to an officer as young as he is, because he proved to be worthy of that trust. I firmly believe that he would never have committed these kinds of atrocious acts. He would never have used his alchemy against someone just because they didn't like him or because they had been vocal about their displeasure with his rank or the fact that he had been pardoned for his actions in Ishval. He _especially_ would not murder a woman he'd spent months investigating and was about to lay charges against. Not to mention that he would never have killed Major General Andrews simply for his position. Andrews was a good person who got along swimmingly with both General Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Elric. I believe that fact alone would have stopped General Mustang from eliminating Andrews, even if he had been inclined to do so in the first place."

The Führer rose from his seat and moved to stand at one of the windows behind his desk. "Then there's the fact that these victims were burned to death. General Mustang is a smart man. If he _did_ decide to eliminate those who had miniscule grudges against him, he would _not_ have used his fire alchemy because it would have been immediately obvious who committed the crimes. He may as well have left his name at the crime scenes, which is what I believe the person who is behind these crimes wanted investigators to believe."

All three agents nodded. "That's what we believe as well. We're aware that General Mustang is the only person who can use flame alchemy in Amestris, and the fact that these victims were burned to death would have been our biggest clue that this might have been a set-up, even if we didn't already know the general personally," Rossi replied.

"Good. I'm glad that we're on the same page here," Grumman said, sighing a little.

"Do either of you have any more questions to ask?" Hotch looked at his team mates but both shook their heads. All three of them stood up. "Thank you for your time, Führer Grumman. We appreciate the information you were able to provide us and we also appreciate you giving us the time to ask our questions," Hotch finished as Grumman turned back from the window and approached his desk, offering his hand once he drew close to them.

"It was my pleasure, Agent Hotchner, Agent Rossi, and Agent Prentiss. I'd be happy to answer any more questions you may think of as you continue to investigate. Just have Captain Hawkeye or Lieutenant Ross contact my secretary," the Führer replied as he shook their hands.

"Thank you sir. We will keep that in mind," Hotch said.

"Good. Lieutenant Ross?" Grumman called, gaining the black-haired woman's attention.

"Yes, sir?" she replied, standing at perfect attention.

"Would you mind letting Lieutenant Colonel Elric and Lieutenant Colonel Brookes know that they are welcome to interrupt my day at any time if they find out anything new in the case?"

"I will, sir," Ross said with a firm nod.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Please see yourselves out," Grumman said as he sat back down in his chair.

"Thank you, Führer Grumman," Ross said before she snapped a salute that Grumman waved her out of. She led the agents to the door and they were soon closing it behind them, leaving Grumman to catch up on his paperwork before his next scheduled meeting.

"Thank you, Samantha," Ross said as they walked past her desk. Samantha looked up and flicked her eyes over the four of them like she was counting and making certain everyone had left the office.

"You're welcome, Lieutenant. Have a good day, sirs, ma'am," Samantha offered with a dip of her head.

"You as well, ma'am," Hotch replied as they made their way to the outer office doors.

"What do you think now, if you don't mind my asking?" Ross asked once they were in the corridor and heading for the stairs that would lead back to the office.

"I'd like to talk with General Combes and General Widdon as well as talk with the other members of the two teams, but I have a feeling we can rule out political motives being behind Mustang's false imprisonment," Hotch said.

"I believe so as well. Judging from the one interaction we've had with the generals in question and the stories we've heard from Mustang's team and Edward, the generals are far too desperate to try and keep Mustang in jail. I don't believe they had anything to do with the actual crimes," Prentiss said.

"Forgive my question, but why? How does that suggest they weren't behind the crimes?" Ross asked, turning her head slightly to catch Prentiss' gaze.

"If they had been behind the murders, they would be content with allowing this case to go to trial without trying to shove it along so quickly. I think you may find that the generals know that Mustang isn't the real culprit here. They were scared when Edward asked Führer Grumman to let us investigate because they were afraid we would find the real criminal and Mustang would be cleared. They know this is likely their one chance to be rid of Mustang for good and they're so desperate to take advantage of it they're willing to let the real killer walk free," Prentiss explained. "If they were involved in the set up rather than just grasping the opportunity it presents them, they wouldn't be as worried about our involvement as they are."

"Wouldn't they be just as concerned that they would be caught if they were behind it?" Ross asked.

"Think about how meticulously this unsub has been able to arrange events so that Mustang was the only possible suspect," Prentiss explained. "Not only were all of the victims carefully chosen to implicate him at times when he had no possible alibi that could have cleared him, but the unsub has managed to do a credible imitation of his flame alchemy – which we've been told over and over again that only Mustang has the ability to perform. He blitz attacked all six victims, and somehow managed to keep them from screaming or fighting back long enough for five of them to be burned to death, even though they were all found in the alleys behind popular and highly frequented bars. That implies that the killer is someone who is organised and precise – he'll try to control every aspect of the crime including discovery of the body. Someone like that wouldn't expect to ever be caught, so they wouldn't panic at the thought of investigators poking around."

"So the generals' desperation to keep General Mustang in prison means that they couldn't be involved?" Ross asked.

Prentiss nodded. "I got the impression from what I observed of them when Edward was looking for permission to allow us to investigate that those two generals in particular are the kind of people who believe their plans are one hundred percent foolproof and would never fail. If that's the case, they wouldn't have been as against us looking into the case as they were."

"That's interesting and I have a feeling that you're correct in your assessment about them," Ross told her before looking to the others. "What's next?"

"We'd like to head back to the office and check in on everyone there," Hotch said. "After that, I believe we should go and talk with General Combes and General Widdon."

* * *

An hour after Hotch and the others had left saw the office reduced by Falman and Breda. Falman had slipped out to hunt down a lead he'd come across by listening to all of the rumours that had been milling around. Breda had ducked out on Hawkeye's orders to find a specific colonel who had left half the needed information out of his mission report. Breda had taken one look at the annoyed expressions on both Edward and Hawkeye's faces and high-tailed it out of the office. He did not want to add to their ire.

Morgan hated to admit it, but he was growing bored. Like the rest of the team, he'd reviewed the assembled case files, but as that was Reid's primary job for the time being he was inclined to let his teammate take the lead there. Normally on a case they didn't have time to slow down and wait for people to be able to cooperate with them. They were almost always able to interview whomever they needed to the moment they needed to. He watched as Captain Hawkeye gave Edward a small, honest smile when Edward managed to get the rest of the paperwork Hawkeye had sorted for him done without Hawkeye needing to assist him at all. Meanwhile, he'd passed the time until the captain was free to talk to him by observing everyone else left in the room.

Sheska and Reid were getting along like a house on fire once the brunette had managed to overcome her social anxiety and awkwardness. Al had helped with that since Sheska was already comfortable with him and he and Reid got along just as well. Reid had approached her a few minutes after Hotch and the others had left and asked if she had an idea of which parts of the case files she wanted to memorise. She had been hesitant in asking if he would read the autopsy reports, as if she was afraid he would judge her for her reluctance, but he had given her an understanding smile and told her he didn't mind. So they had split the work and had spent the rest of the time reading, exchanging the odd word here and there.

Al had continued working on whatever it was he and Ed had been working on since the previous night. Morgan knew it had something to do with alchemy, but he didn't really understand the specifics of what the younger teen was looking for. Occasionally Sheska or Reid would ask Al an alchemy-related question that neither knew the answer to. Al never seemed to mind the interruptions, always looking up with a soft smile and answering with a kind tone before returning to his own work once more. Morgan was surprised by this, considering how Edward normally acted whenever he'd been interrupted back in New York or Washington D.C, unless the person interrupting had been Reid, Garcia, or Abby. From what Morgan had observed so far, Al was different to Edward in nearly every way save for his intelligence and how loyal he was to people who'd earned it.

Where Edward preferred bold colours – red and black with minimal white trim – that drew attention to him, Al seemed to prefer more conservative, simple colours and styles. He also seemed to be more mild mannered and with a gentler personality than Edward – less inclined to fly into a rage over an insult than his brother was and with a greater degree of patience.

JJ and Havoc had started working together, striking an easy friendship almost immediately. Fuery had seemed too nervous to talk to any of the agents, preferring to stick close to Breda, Havoc, or Edward when he could, but with one out of the office, one busy with paperwork, and his only remaining option being to chat with one of the Americans, Fuery had been nose down in his work the entire time. Havoc, at least to people who didn't know him or weren't currently observing him, didn't look overly worried about much, but Morgan saw how often his gaze flicked over to Fuery whenever he leaned back in his chair or looked around the room like he was checking on everyone.

"Was that the last of it, captain?" Edward's voice broke the silence and Morgan's eyes snapped over to Edward and Hawkeye.

From the stories Mustang and Edward had told them about Hawkeye – Mustang with fear and respect and Edward with respect and amusement – Morgan had been expecting an overly strict, fearsome woman with no sense of humour who was entirely dedicated to her work and her commanding officer without any room for anyone else, but Morgan could see the soft look in Hawkeye's gaze whenever Ed wasn't looking and she didn't think anyone else wasn't either.

"Yes, Edward. That's the last of it for today, at least for now," she told him.

"Awesome. Thanks for your help, captain." Ed smiled at her as he got up from the desk and headed for where his brother still sat on the floor.

"You're welcome, Edward. I'll admit it's nice to have it all finished this quickly and with no fuss," Hawkeye told him, a small, amused smile on her face as Ed grinned at her.

"I'll try to keep it up until Mustang's out of the cells. Show him how it's supposed to be done," Edward smirked before stopping like he remembered something. "Hey, now that I think about it, who's covering all the meetings that Mustang usually complains about having to attend?" An expression of mingled worry and reluctance crossed his face. "I'm not the one who's supposed to be taking care of that, am I?"

"No, Edward," Hawkeye assured him. "Most of the General's meetings are status meetings, budget meetings, or policy meetings. The other generals have been made aware that you're filling in for Mustang by now, and are continuing with business as usual. If someone absolutely needs a meeting with General Mustang, they'll contact his office and I'll schedule something for after he's back at his position. If it's something that absolutely can't wait that long, Führer Grumman has ordered me to pass it along to Samantha and he'll take care of it personally, since normally it would have been passed on to General Andrews instead."

"Oh, okay. That makes sense," Edward replied with relief. "I don't know enough about the inner workings of the high command to be able to fill that role for him too."

"You wouldn't be expected to, Edward," Hawkeye said with a smile. "Most of those meetings involve information that would be above your clearance level despite the fact that you're filling in for the General."

"Sounds good," Edward said as he settled down next to Alphonse before something else occurred to him. "Wait, Morgan, aren't you supposed to be talking with the captain?" His tone indicated that he wasn't actually sure that was the plan.

"Just waiting until she's free to be able to talk with me," Morgan told him, grinning at his confusion. Edward just glared at him, evidently unamused by Morgan's amusement.

"I'm free now, if you wish to talk," Hawkeye said, stepping briskly around the side of her desk.

"You two can use Mustang's office, if you want," Ed suggested when Morgan looked around the room a little pointedly.

"Sounds good to me," Morgan said as he stood from his seat and stretched a little.

"Thank you, Ed," Hawkeye said, but Ed waved her thanks off.

"Don't worry about it. Not like it's actually my office," Ed reminded her. Hawkeye didn't say anything, but she did look between Morgan and the inner office door pointedly. "She doesn't like to be kept waiting," Ed translated for him and Morgan nodded in understanding before heading for the door.

Hawkeye's eyes glinted slightly with amusement before fading back to her usual mask of professionalism. Ed was back on the floor with Al, after saying a proper hello to Sheska, by the time the two of them managed to get into the office.

* * *

Hawkeye and Morgan each took one of the couches, Hawkeye sitting ram-rod straight – almost as if she was at attention – while Morgan was a little more causal. Morgan had a notepad at the ready before he cleared his throat and looked up to meet Hawkeye's cool gaze.

"So, first of all, I'd like to know what the relationship between you and Mustang is. How did the two of you meet? Was it through the military?" Morgan asked, placing his pen tip on the paper so he could start writing.

Hawkeye shook her head. "No. My father was General Mustang's alchemy teacher. We met when we were in our teens and my father agreed to take him on as an apprentice. Up until then, my father had devoted all of his time and attention to his alchemic research, especially after my mother passed away." Morgan thought he could hear the faintest bit of resentment in her tone. "The more time he spent on his research, the more paranoid my father became and the more determined he was to safeguard it. My father and I were not close, especially after my mother died, but General Mustang and I developed a strong friendship. He was always kind to me and showed me absolute respect. I learned quickly that I could trust him with anything and know that he would keep my confidence," Hawkeye told him.

"After my father died, General Mustang helped to pay for my father's burial and then divulged his plans to use the alchemy my father had taught him to become a State Alchemist and change the military from the inside. It was idealistic, but I knew him well enough at that point to believe that if anyone could do it, he could," Hawkeye told him and Morgan could hear that she still had absolute faith in him. "Shortly afterwards, I applied to the military myself to assist him in achieving his goals."

Mustang wrote everything down. "So you've been with him since the start of his military career?"

Hawkeye shook her head. "No. I joined shortly after he had already gained his State Alchemist title, about a year after my father's death, but before we were all deployed out to serve in Ishval. My skills with a gun caused the higher-ups to pull me out of the academy before I finished my training, and I was sent out to serve on the front lines. That was where the general and I met again."

"That was fifteen years ago, correct? I think Edward told us once that the war started when he was two," Morgan explained when Hawkeye looked startled that he knew when the war had begun.

"Yes, the Ishvalan Civil War started roughly fifteen years ago now," Hawkeye agreed. "After the war ended, General Mustang received a promotion to lieutenant colonel for his actions during the fighting and along with that promotion he was granted the privilege to select a personal aide. I learned that he was looking for an aide and I applied for the position and he selected me, and we've served together ever since. As he slowly gained more influence, eventually rising to the rank of Colonel, and brought the rest of the team on board, my duties also increased. I not only serve as his second-in-command over the team and his personal aide, but also as his primary bodyguard."

"Okay. Now, can you tell me about Mustang's day to day routine since the time he and Edward first visited us?" Morgan asked.

"While he was a colonel, General Mustang was supposed to report for duty by seven-thirty in the morning every weekday." Morgan didn't miss the hint of annoyance in her tone or the slight way she emphasized the word 'supposed'. "He would work on his paperwork for the day, taking a forty-five minute lunch break before finishing at five-thirty, unless he needed to stay behind for some reason." Her slight scowl suggested that was a common occurrence. "As a colonel, General Mustang developed a reputation as a ladies' man. He often had dates in the evenings after work and quite a few of these turned troublesome. His weekends were normally spent in the office, playing catch up on any paperwork he had missed during the week before heading to a tavern or restaurant in town to enjoy a night out, especially after we were transferred to Central from East City. Of course, there were some days when he simply stayed at home because he was deeply involved in his alchemic research. During the month and a half between the Promised Day and your first meeting with him, his routine had been adapted to include time for a half-hour visit to Alphonse at the hospital. Most of the time he would visit in the mornings, but if he had meetings scheduled in the morning he would usually go and visit in the middle of the afternoon when he felt he needed a break from his work."

"Were there any major changes to his routine after his promotion to brigadier general?" Morgan asked.

"Yes. His duties have increased in quantity, and he also has many more meetings with other members of the high command or other State Alchemists, as I explained to Edward. He now reports for work at six-thirty in the morning and tends to finish his day around seven at night, as long as he's finished the day's duties. Lately, however, he's been finishing later, sometimes around eight or nine at night. His nightly activities have decreased to him only going out for a drink or two after work, but maybe two or three times every fortnight. He still tends to go on at least one date a week, usually with a different woman each time. He's also had to travel more than usual since his promotion, but he is always escorted by myself and either Lieutenant Havoc or Lieutenant Falman," she told him.

Morgan frowned in thought for a moment. "You mentioned that Mustang has had some of his dates turn troublesome, particularly back when he was still a colonel. Will you tell me about those?" Hawkeye sighed a little. "The ones that you found the most concerning?" Morgan clarified, since he had a feeling that Hawkeye's little sigh had more to do with the fact that there were potentially a lot of stories rather than annoyance at the question.

"There have been a few that stand out more than others. Most of them were simply women who were upset that General Mustang wasn't interested in a serious or long-term relationship with him. Despite any rumours you may hear during your investigation, Agent Morgan, General Mustang has always respected the women around him, whether they are friends, co-workers, or women he has spent a night with. No one has ever been pressured into something they didn't want while in his company, he has never used his rank to blackmail or demand sexual favours from a woman, and he always makes sure that his companion isn't in a relationship at the time," she told him sternly.

Morgan didn't doubt that assertion. He had no doubt that if the captain ever learned that Mustang had forced his attentions on a woman – or even done anything to disrespect or insult one – that she wouldn't hesitate to shoot him herself. "Fair enough. That was the same impression that I got from him after seeing how he interacted with Agent Prentiss, Agent Jareau, and Agent David the two times we met previously. Of these troublesome dates that you mentioned that stand out more than the others, could you tell me about them?"

"There were really only four in recent years that I would classify as more concerning than the rest. The first one was about five years ago now, when we were still stationed in East City. I believe it was just before Edward joined the State Alchemist program. Her name was Tanya Keener, and she and the general had gone on two dates previously when she suddenly became exceptionally infatuated with him. It got to the point where her calls to the office to speak to him outweighed the legitimate calls on a daily basis. He ordered the phone operators to hang up if she ever called again, so she started visiting daily, but he quickly had the guards at the gate refuse to let her pass. After that, she started waiting outside the front gates of Eastern Command every day just so she could catch him when he left for home. She also learned who was on his team and began harassing them, trying to catch them to ask them to pass messages along. The moment he heard that she had tried to corner Sergeant Fuery while he was on an assignment for the team, he had her arrested for harassment and stalking."

"Why didn't Mustang have her arrested before it reached that point?" Morgan asked.

"He had to wait until she became a genuine threat or her attentions were interfering with our ability to carry out our assignments for him so that the arrest wouldn't be taken as a colonel using his military rank for something as petty as arresting a woman for being affectionate," Hawkeye told him briskly. "By the time she was released from jail, we'd been transferred to Central, and he hasn't had any further contact with her. His orders preventing anyone in East City from providing her with any information about him are still in effect."

"Okay. It's possible that she could be carrying a grudge, but I doubt it. This is far too complicated a plot to concoct for that kind of history," Morgan said. "While there are those who fixate on people and obsess over them, stalkers also have a tendency to redirect their focus to other people once the object of their fixation is out of their reach. We can run a check on Miss Keener though, and just make sure that she's nowhere near Central City."

Hawkeye nodded at his decision before continuing. "Seven months after Keener's arrest, General Mustang was approached by a woman named Kylie Myall. They flirted for a bit and the general invited her to join him for dinner later in the week, which she readily accepted. She suggested his favourite restaurant in East City, and he agreed. She didn't take it well, however, when he turned up at the arranged date and asked her which general she would be reporting to after dinner. He had grown suspicious about how much she had known about his likes and dislikes, so he'd spent the days between her initial approach and their date having her investigated. He had uncovered a connection with a General Barr, here in Central. She'd been hired by General Barr to try and get close enough to General Mustang to find a weakness they could use against him. She didn't take being found out so quickly very well and tried to shoot General Mustang right there in the restaurant. After finding out about her connection to Barr, he'd had the foresight to have me accompany him in secret, and I was able to disarm her before she did anything too dangerous."

Morgan made some notes. "Where's General Barr now?"

"He was one of those lost on the Promised Day," Hawkeye told him and Morgan sighed as he scratched the general's name off of his notes. "Myall was arrested for attempted assault of a State Alchemist and public endangerment with a concealed weapon. She's still serving time in the prison in East City."

"What about the third one?" Morgan asked as he crossed Myall's name off of his notes as well.

"She was similar to Myall in that she was a spy, but it wasn't for any of the higher ups, at least as far as we were able to discover. She was the right-hand woman of the leader of a radical group who believed that alchemy was a gift from their god and that they were the only ones entitled to its power. They believed that the State Alchemists in general and General Mustang in particular had stolen the power from its rightful owners, which were, of course the members of their organisation. He wasn't the only alchemist they thought this about, but he was the biggest threat in their eyes and they'd spent weeks watching him and learning his habits. The woman in question had been dating him during that time and even though he was aware of her allegiances, he continued to see her in the hopes of getting enough information out of her that we could locate their base of operations and shut them down. Unfortunately, they did something we weren't expecting – and it was a grave error on their part." Morgan swore he saw a flash of smug pride before it was gone again.

"Which would be?" Morgan asked, feeling curious more for himself rather than the sake of the investigation. The mildly amused look on Hawkeye's face told him that she had been deliberately vague on purpose so that he would ask that exact question.

"They kidnapped Edward," she told him and he blanched. She made a calming motion. "Edward had been out on missions for nearly a month without having reported back in to us in East City, and he wasn't aware of the group's existence, but they learned enough from watching the general to know that Edward was a member of his team. They ambushed the train that he and Alphonse were travelling on at the time and managed to grab Edward while Alphonse was busy trying to protect the other passengers. Alphonse notified us of the abduction as soon as he could, but he'd barely given his report before we received additional reports of a series of explosions coming from a network of old mines near where the train had been ambushed. When we got there, Ed was covered in dust, dirt, and blood, exceptionally angry, and with dozens of unconscious and restrained extremists on the ground around him." Hawkeye had a small smile on her face. "Edward singlehandedly defeated the entire group after he'd heard their claims, got annoyed with the fact that they grabbed him just to get to Mustang, and decided to end their group so he could focus on other things. The outburst he directed at the general when we showed up is still considered legendary by the soldiers who overheard it who weren't part of our team."

Morgan grinned and saw a glint of amusement in Hawkeye's gaze. "That sounds about right." He chuckled a little. "But you said all the radicals were captured? Did any of them escape or get released in the last few months?" He was hoping this could be the lead they needed. If a radical group was dedicated enough to their cause to kidnap someone like Ed, they might be able to pull off an operation as complex as this one in order to frame Mustang.

"Unfortunately, no. Everyone who was a part of that group is still in jail for kidnapping a State Alchemist," Hawkeye told him and it took Morgan a bit of effort not to sigh.

"I guess it would've been too easy. Who was the last one?" he asked, not overly hopeful that this one would give them anything to go on either.

"This one was only a month before Edward and General Mustang's second adventure with your team," Hawkeye said. "Her name was April Cutting. She'd gotten herself invited to a few events that General Mustang had attended and had tried to ask him on a date at each one, but he'd always refused. Eventually, he took her aside and told her he wasn't interested in dating someone who was already in a relationship. She told him he was mistaken, and that she wasn't dating anyone. The man who had escorted her to the events wasn't her partner; he was just the first man who'd agreed to take her so that she could talk to the general. General Mustang wasn't impressed and told her as much before he walked away. Miss Cutting did not take the rejection well and somehow managed to get an invitation to the next State Alchemists' Annual Dinner. She managed to keep General Mustang from spotting her for most of the evening, and it wasn't until Edward grabbed the flute of champagne that he was about to drink from and pointed out a woman he'd seen slip something into the drink that we realised she was even there." Hawkeye let out a small sigh. "When we tested the champagne, we found that it contained a rather powerful poison, so Miss Cutting was arrested for the attempted murder of a State Alchemist. She's still in prison before you ask."

"Naturally." Morgan couldn't stop his sigh this time. "Based on what you've told me and how efficiently it seems your legal system deals with these sorts of threats, I think we can probably rule out those who are already known for stalking the general. There _is_ the possibility that this stalker could be someone from so long ago that it's slipped everyone's mind, but those sorts of stalkers are rare, and their crimes are usually directed at the object of their obsession and most often involve direct physical attacks, not this sort of involved framing scheme. There's also still a chance that this could be politically motivated, or at least someone with a political motivation to get Mustang out of the picture, but I'm going to leave that to Hotch, Rossi, and Prentiss to determine."

"So you're working with the theory that the general has a stalker who has perpetrated these crimes?" Hawkeye asked and Morgan nodded.

"My specialty on the team is obsessional crimes, and with what you've told me about his routine, I'm leaning more towards the idea that someone has been watching him for long enough to be confident in his daily routine. These crimes were all committed on days when Mustang was home by himself and hadn't worked late that night. You said he doesn't have a set routine for when decides to drop into a pub or bar for a drink or two?"

Hawkeye nodded. "Yes. General Mustang only has a select few bars that he frequents on his way home from work if he's had a long or trying day. When he's out on a date, he favours popular restaurants or theaters where there are plenty of people around. Since his promotion, he's had several days that could be considered trying, but the days he decides to stop for a nightcap are chosen at random. Even as well as I know him, I couldn't predict with any accuracy what nights he will choose to indulge in a nightcap."

"That alone tells me that whoever committed these crimes has been stalking him for a few months at the very least. They've learned all his habits, his favourite places to go, all of his enemies, and they've been watching him every night so they know what nights he'll be home by himself. They have likely followed him home every night, watched his house and waited to see if he would be heading back out again or have someone come over before leaving and finding a victim. They had to have watched him closely enough to learn who they should kill to make it look like he did it. Stalking behaviours fall into a fairly wide range and what an individual stalker will do varies across the entire spectrum of behaviour, and not all of them are motivated purely by admiration, attraction, or revenge, although those do tend to be the three most common types of stalkers. I suspect that if the victims had truly been random without any direct connection to the general, he wouldn't have been seriously considered a suspect, despite the way they were killed."

Hawkeye considered that for a moment before dipping her head slightly, conceding the point. "But what has made you rule out that this stalker is not motivated by admiration, attraction, or revenge towards General Mustang? You never said anything about how you would uncover their identity if it was something other than political," she clarified when Morgan gave her a questioning look.

"Ah, sorry. No, I haven't ruled out a revenge motive yet," Morgan explained.

"But you have ruled out admiration and affection as motives?" Hawkeye asked and Morgan nodded. "May I ask why?"

"If the killer was driven by romantic notions, I believe they would have reached out to the general by now. They would be seeking his reaction to the murders and would want his approval for their actions. They would most likely be compelled to tell him what they'd done for him so they could receive the vindication for their actions that they crave. The killer would _need_ to tell Mustang because they believe that he would give them positive attention. Finding out that all that happened was getting Mustang arrested would most likely cause the unsub to come forward and claim responsibility – they are looking for positive attention and affirmation, not trying to pin the blame on Mustang. Since you've received no communication from them and no one has tried to come forward to claim responsibility for the crimes to save Mustang from being imprisoned, I don't think the killer is romantically motivated," Morgan explained. "It would be the same if the motive was based on admiration for his skills. You would have received correspondence or phone calls from the killer asking if Mustang was impressed by his actions. Unless he _has_ received letters and the like from people that have concerned you?"

"There have been letters and notes, ranging from pitiful to concerning that he's received in the past, both here in the office and at his own home, and we've investigated every letter that the general has felt even the slightest amount of concern over, but the majority of them were sent by women who were upset that he hadn't been interested in pursuing a relationship with them. Those that hadn't been written by disappointed women have been investigated thoroughly and dealt with. Since his promotion to Brigadier General, I've only been made aware of a couple of letters."

"So he would tell you every time he received a note or a letter that he found a little concerning?" Morgan asked.

"Yes. We have an agreement, and he's aware of what the consequences would be if he _didn't_ hand over a letter he found worrying and I found out about it later," Hawkeye said with grim expression on her face. Morgan felt a morbid curiosity over what those consequences might be, although he wasn't inclined to ask since the question didn't relate to the case at hand.

"I'm assuming those most recent notes and letters proved as worrisome as the rest of them, but there wasn't anything that would indicate they had any relation to this current case once you investigated the senders?" Morgan asked and Hawkeye gave a sharp nod. "Then I do think admiration and affection can be ruled out as motives if none of the notes amounted to anything."

Hawkeye seemed a little confused by his reasoning. "Shouldn't we have also received letters claiming responsibility or gloating over their plan succeeding if the motive was revenge? I know General Mustang has definitely _not_ received any such letters."

Morgan shook his head. "In some cases, yes, you probably would have, but not if the killer is looking to frame Mustang. Sending a letter like that would only be proof that Mustang is being falsely accused, which would subvert the killer's entire scheme. We most often see letters from a killer looking for revenge when the killer's goal is to hurt their target through the people the target cares about – in Mustang's case, that would be the rest of his team or any family he may still have. That sort of revenge scheme almost always produces letters or communication of some sort because the killer wants their target to know who the one behind their pain and grief is."

"So if there had been a hostage situation or a kidnapping instead of what has actually occurred?" Hawkeye asked, and Morgan nodded.

"Yes, you would've received communication from the unsub," Morgan told her. "But in a case like this, where the goal seems to be to put the blame on Mustang for something he hasn't done, we wouldn't expect to see any communication from the unsub, so that leaves us with only a few possibilities. The first would be if this was being done by a hired assassin – which could indicate a political motive – since the assassin would only care about being paid and completing the job he was hired to do. The second possibility is that the unsub doesn't need to gloat or lord his superiority over Mustang, because he's already got what he wants – Mustang has become the focus of the investigation and the primary suspect. We most often see that in a case where the unsub is looking to drag his target down from an apparent position of superiority, but those sorts of cases are rarely this meticulously planned or executed."

"I see," Hawkeye said.

"There _is_ one other type of revenge scenario where we wouldn't expect to see any communication, and that would be if taking Mustang out of the picture is only _part_ of their goal. They haven't finished what they're doing and they won't risk being caught until their entire goal is achieved, so they won't reach out to gloat or brag," Morgan finished.

"Which do you believe is the most likely?" she asked and Morgan gave her a half-smile and shook his head.

"We don't develop opinions until we've gathered as much evidence as possible. We noticed early on in our unit's infancy that if a police department believed that someone was behind the crimes, they tended to try to force the evidence to fit their preconceived notions, rather than allowing themselves to investigate where the case led them. So we developed the rule that we would get the bones of the case and do our own investigation and allow the evidence to guide us. Some of what we do does require us to draw on past precedent, but we approach each case as unique and only use the things we've observed to guide us in determining what the behaviour of the unsub could mean in this particular case. That approach allows us to keep an open mind and prevents us from making the same mistakes as the police force."

Hawkeye gave a small, resigned sigh. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that sort of tunnel vision is a common occurrence, no matter what world is involved," she said a little morosely before pulling herself back into her normal, professional attitude. "What else do you wish to know?"

"I know you've said that he has had a lot of experience with stalkers. Aside from the ones that you've told me about, were there any who stood out because they were dangerous, but didn't involve a woman with whom the general wasn't interested in pursuing a relationship with?"

"There was one that was fairly recent – an Eric Wallace – who blamed the general for the death of his ten-year-old son Michael. His son was killed on the Promised Day, one of many casualties, due to the fighting and damage caused by the fighting. While the fighting was confined to Central, and mostly to the area around Central Command, there was some damage to homes and businesses in the vicinity, and I believe Michael Wallace was killed due to a partially collapsed building. All of this happened before Führer Grumman managed to compile and release enough evidence to the public as a show of faith that his promise to be more transparent about major events in Amestris would be kept. Mr. Wallace had been a marksman for the military before he had retired when his son was born because his wife died in childbirth. Because General Mustang was the one leading the attack against the corrupt members of the high command, he decided that General Mustang should be held responsible for his son's death and he decided to take matters into his own hands."

"What happened?" Morgan asked, making notes again.

"General Mustang was recovering in the hospital from wounds that he had sustained in the fighting. Edward happened to be visiting the general at the time and he noticed the glint Wallace's rifle made from the rooftop opposite the hospital. He used alchemy and managed to blow the gun up before Wallace could fire a shot. Wallace was severely injured and ended up losing his hand due to the damage."

Morgan frowned. "I don't think someone with a missing limb would be able to pull this off, unless he's free and had a prosthetic like Ed's automail?" Hawkeye shook her head. "Anyone else?"

"The only other group or individual that gave us true cause for concern – and not just for General Mustang – were the homunculi," she replied and Morgan's brain automatically provided him with the information that Mustang had shared with them during the hunt for Harding when they'd asked him to explain what a Philosopher's Stone was and what the Promised Day was.

"Those were the immortal beings whose life force was tied to a Philosopher's Stone and were behind the Promised Day?" he asked.

Hawkeye nodded. "Yes. There were seven of them, not including the one they called Father. They were named after the seven deadly sins, but the ones that caused us the most concern were Lust, Envy, Wrath, and Pride."

"Why those four in particular?" Morgan asked.

"After Brigadier General Hughes was murdered, the general came up with a plan to try to lure out his murderer. It was because of Alphonse that we learned of the existence of the homunculi to begin with – he and Edward had just recently returned from a trip to visit their former alchemy teacher, but while they were away, one of the homunculi, the one known as Greed, had kidnapped Alphonse. Greed wasn't working with the rest of his siblings at the time, and he apparently had his own agenda. He believed that Alphonse had alchemic knowledge that would allow him to achieve that agenda. Edward and their teacher rescued him and they returned to Central, but then Edward was sent east with Major Armstrong on the general's orders. While Edward was gone, Alphonse learned that the general was planning on going after the ones who had killed General Hughes and he offered to come along to help and that's when he told us about the homunculi. We tracked them to a series of tunnels underneath the city, and we were forced to split up. Alphonse and I went one way and the general and Lieutenant Havoc went the other. While our group was divided, Lust attacked the general and Havoc. Both of them were severely wounded and Lust left them for dead, which was her mistake."

"How so?" Morgan asked curiously, since this wasn't a story he had heard before.

"Lust had the ability to extend her fingers out into sharp blades – a talent that she referred to as the ultimate spear. She used that ability to stab Havoc in the back, severing his spinal cord at the waist, and when the general stole her Stone to attempt to heal Havoc, she regenerated and used her ultimate spear to stab him in the side."

"Wait – you said Lieutenant Havoc's spinal cord was severed?" Morgan asked. "The same Lieutenant Havoc who is on the team now and sitting right out in the other room?"

Hawkeye nodded. "After the Promised Day, one of our allies who was in possession of a Philosopher's Stone came to the general and offered to use it to help heal the general's wounds. General Mustang agreed, but only if he also agreed to heal Havoc first."

"I see," Morgan said.

"Lust left the general and Havoc for dead and pursued Alphonse and I. Because of her healing powers, she shrugged off all of the bullets I shot at her and then boasted that she had killed the general." Hawkeye's eyes looked haunted for the briefest of moments. "Alphonse did his best to protect me from her, but the general showed up at the last second and engaged Lust in combat with his flame alchemy." At Morgan's curious look, she continued. "Lust had shredded his ignition gloves, so the general used a small knife that he had been carrying to carve his transmutation circle into the back of his hand, and then he used the flint from Havoc's lighter for ignition. He cauterized both of their wounds with his flame alchemy and then chased after Lust as quickly as his wounds would allow and destroyed her with his alchemy by burning out her Stone – he attacked her over and over again and forced her Stone to burn itself out attempting to heal her."

Morgan shook his head in admiration, even though he had winced at the thought of carving something into his own skin. Of course, that story also explained the odd, faded circular scar on the back of Mustang's hand that JJ and Reid had noticed and the story that Alphonse had told about Mustang saving his and Hawkeye's lives. "What about the rest of the homunculi you mentioned? Envy, Wrath, and Pride, I believe?"

Hawkeye nodded. "Envy was the one who actually murdered General Hughes. He and General Mustang eventually fought on the Promised Day and Envy was defeated, but due to his ability to shape shift into anything he wanted to, Envy was always a threat in the months leading up to the Promised Day, especially once the general was being watched after we realised the full scope of their plans. Wrath was known to us as Führer King Bradley, and as the leader of our entire nation, I suspect you can imagine how dangerous that made him."

Morgan nodded grimly. "General Mustang mentioned that one of the homunculi had been put in place as your country's leader when we first asked him about what the Promised Day was when we heard him and Edward talking about it. What about Pride?"

"Pride was the most deceptive of all of them. He was the oldest of the homunculi, the first one created by their Father, but he was in the form of a small boy, and in particular he was posing as Führer Bradley's adopted son, Selim. Pride and Wrath were the two who caused the general's injuries on the Promised Day."

"And somehow, even with the two homunculi watching him that closely, he still managed to organise a coup d'état to stop them?" Morgan asked.

Hawkeye nodded. "General Mustang, Alphonse, and Edward were three of the five sacrifices that the homunculi needed for the Promised Day, so they were constantly being followed and watched by them to make sure that nothing happened to them. They were the only ones we took as a serious threat during that time, but at the same time we also knew that the homunculi didn't dare to harm or kill the three of them because they were needed for their plans."

"Would you say that Mustang is so used to these kinds of threats that he no longer registers the feeling that most people instinctively get when they're being watched, or has he actually grown more sensitive to it?" Morgan asked. For the first time, Hawkeye seemed to hesitate as she considered her answer.

"I believe that the answer would be both, Agent Morgan," she said finally. "General Mustang is a man who has a lot of people watching him at nearly all times of the day. He has grown accustomed to people casually watching him and he has grown accustomed to the scrutinising glares from those who consider him a threat to their positions within the military's hierarchy. He has learned to ignore the feeling he used to get when people did that. He has, however, become a lot more sensitive to the feeling of being watched by someone who has truly malicious intentions towards him. He has always informed me of whenever he has felt those kinds of gazes so that the team and I could be on alert for a threat, and he would always increase his escort until we felt the threat had passed. He has not made us aware of any kind of feeling like that since before the Promised Day."

"So if Mustang was being stalked, the person who did the stalking didn't register as a malicious threat?" Morgan pressed.

"Yes. It is possible that he simply dismissed the feeling as another admirer or political enemy and paid no more attention to it."

"Then the stalker has to have been someone whom Mustang would have dismissed as a non-serious threat," Morgan mused, more to himself than Hawkeye. "Is there any particular type of person whom he would automatically dismiss as non-threatening if he noticed them watching him?"

"The general has learned not to dismiss anyone outright if he felt them watching him more intently than he's built an indifference to," Hawkeye answered. "However, if the person caused him to even notice them, he would remember since they could develop into a larger problem further down the road."

"Alright. I'll ask him whether he noticed anyone in the last six months or so that made him a little suspicious, but not enough to feel threatened," Morgan decided, making a small note so he'd remember to do so.

"Was there anything else, Agent Morgan?" Hawkeye asked, a little impatient to check on the rest of her team to see if they've figured anything out yet.

"One more thing, captain," Morgan did look a little apologetic and she surmised she hadn't kept her impatience out of her expression as well as she thought she had. She nodded for him to continue. "You described Mustang as a 'ladies' man'. Can you be more specific in what way he is one?"

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand your question, Agent Morgan."

"Would you describe him as looking more for one-night stands, or as someone who was looking for the right person and just hasn't found her yet?" Morgan asked. "How does he treat the women he interacts with in a romantic sense?"

Hawkeye seemed to be contemplating her answer before she finally answered. "Many of the women he regularly sees are ladies who work for his aunt, Madame Christmas. She owns a bar here in Central and the women are her servers as well as women who can be hired as an escort for the evening or a bed companion. General Mustang tries to take at least one of them out for dinner every week as a way to let them simply enjoy a night out without the expectations most of their clients have. Because he's so often seen in the company of different women, people tend to regard him as a flirt and a ladies' man. Of course that works to his advantage in many ways, since the ladies who work for his aunt also serve as his informants here in Central. They tell him information they've gathered from their clients in exchange for a favour or gift."

Morgan would be the first one to admit that he hadn't seen that coming, although it made sense when he thought about it. Both to protect himself and to give him intelligence that he could use to continue to climb the ranks of the military, he would need to have a group that he could trust and if he had family here in the city whom he deemed trustworthy, well…

"For the rest of the women, the ones who are his legitimate dates, I believe he simply wishes to enjoy their company for the evening. How much of their company he enjoyed was always up to the women themselves, of course, as I've already mentioned."

"Alright." Morgan made a few final notes before flicking back through the pages to make sure there was nothing else he wanted clarification on. "I think that's everything for now. Thank you, captain, for allowing me to ask these questions," he added as they both stood.

"I'd be willing to answer any further questions should you require me to," Hawkeye said as she offered her hand.

"I'd appreciate that," Morgan said gratefully as he shook the offered hand. She gave him a small smile as he tucked away his notepad before they both headed for the door and left the inner office to rejoin the rest of the team.

A/N - Alrighty here's chapter 8 for all of you! Finally getting into the investigative side of things. In other news, I'm now typing up the last chapter for this story and I hope you're all in it for the long run because it's going to be a 32 chapter story! Massive thanks, as always, to my beta, PhoenixQueen, for her awesome work on this chapter. Thank you to everyone who has left me a review on these chapters so far. I really have loved reading your thoughts on each chapter so please, please keep it up! I'll see you next week!


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Reid and Sheska had decided who would be responsible for which parts of the case files after a brief debate. Reid had originally thought they'd split the cases down the middle, with each of them taking three victims, but Sheska had unintentionally vetoed that idea when she had stammered her way through asking if he would read the autopsy reports. While autopsy reports were clinical, considering their subject matter, they also took time to get used to reading. Reid didn't blame her for her reluctance. He'd taken the five autopsy reports while Sheska started working through the rest of the case files one by one.

The most obvious thing he noticed was that the autopsy reports were almost identical to each other. Each of the five victims who had died had severe burns – blackened and charred to the point of nearly complete destruction, but only on the head, arms, and upper torso. The medical examiner had also found a severe head wound on the skull of each victim, which told Reid that at the bare minimum there had been a struggle of some sort, but it was more likely that all five victims – six if one included General Armstrong – had been blitz-attacked without any kind of warning and subdued before they knew what had happened.

The fact that the autopsy reports were so similar helped to confirm to Reid that there was a consistent M.O. for this killer, which also meant that it was less likely that General Henley and General Armstrong were victims of a copycat killer even though they were the only two women who had been attacked. Henley's attack also fit perfectly within the escalating timeline of attacks, which led Reid to believe that Henley was indeed a true victim of this killer.

As he put down the final autopsy report he looked over to see how far Sheska had gotten with the rest of the case files. It became obvious that despite having a photographic memory, she didn't read as quickly as he did. As he reached for one of the files that she apparently hadn't read, he consciously slowed his reading speed down to match hers so he wouldn't accidentally read everything before she got a chance to. They spent the time reading in silence, only speaking up whenever they'd made an observation they'd wanted the other's opinion on or to ask Alphonse a question related to alchemy that neither of them could answer. Sheska had meekly said that she'd read a lot of alchemy-related texts, but even though she understood a lot of the chemistry and physics involved, the art itself was still somewhat elusive. There was a difference between reading about something and actually using it, after all. The understanding that one received from real-world practice was a lot deeper than what one got from just reading about it after all.

Reid and Sheska only deviated from their task when Morgan and Hawkeye had gone into the inner office so that Morgan could interview the captain about Mustang, when they left the office together a short time later, and when Lieutenant Breda had returned from his errand. Ed had gotten up and joined Hawkeye to hear the information that had been left out of the report before Ed made sure that he'd understood what the other soldier had been requesting of him and signing off on the report. The teen alchemist had flashed Reid and Sheska a smile as he rejoined his brother on the floor. Reid noticed that Lieutenant Falman hadn't come back yet, but no one else looked worried about it, so he decided not to say anything about it either.

Between the two of them, they'd made it through all the information pertaining to Bryce, Pardi, Summers, and Henley when there was a knock on the office's outer door. This had happened twice before. The first time had been when a sergeant came and brought a small stack of additional reports for Edward to review, which the newly minted team leader did before signing off on them and causing the sergeant to leave within five minutes of his arrival. The second interruption had been Major Armstrong turning up to pass along a message from his sister.

"_Enter," Edward called out absently, not even looking up from what he was working on alongside his brother._

_The door suddenly burst open, slamming off the wall and bouncing back, causing everyone in the office to jump. The BAU agents and the rest of Mustang's team all reached for their sidearms while Edward and Alphonse jumped to their feet and into defensive stances as a massively built man strode into the room. Wearing a blue military uniform and completely bald save for a single blond curl from the center of his forehead and a full, bushy mustache, he was an intimidating sight, or he would have been if not for the good-natured twinkle in his light blue eyes._

"_Major Armstrong. Nice to see you. Next time can you _not_ give us all a heart attack?" Edward asked as he relaxed from his defensive stance and resumed his spot on the floor next to Alphonse, who had also relaxed and settled back down on the floor._

"_My apologies, Lieutenant Colonel Elric," Armstrong rumbled and Ed scowled at him._

"_You can just keep calling me Edward, Major. You know that I don't stand on all that stupid rank shit," Edward told him curtly. "And don't worry about it. What's up?" he asked, looking a little worried. "Did something else happen to General Armstrong?"_

"_I merely wished to come by to congratulate you on your promotion, young Edward! I also came by at the behest of my sister, Olivier!" Armstrong told him. "I will also admit that I have been curious about your friends and wished to meet the brave men and women I have heard so much about!" Armstrong grinned at them as his eyes fell on the three remaining BAU members._

"_Oh, right. That's Doctor Reid next to Miss Sheska. Agent Derek Morgan is the one annoying Havoc, and Agent Jennifer Jareau is sitting next to Fuery." Morgan scowled at Ed for the way he had introduced him and then glared at Reid when the younger agent started laughing at him for scowling at Ed. "Guys, this is Lieutenant Ross' commanding officer Major Alex Louis Armstrong, also known as the Strong Arm Alchemist." Ed absently waved a hand at the massive man, who immediately started flexing his muscles for some reason unknown to the Americans._

"_It is a pleasure to meet you! I am Major Alex Louis Armstrong!" he bellowed joyfully, causing the three agents to flinch at the volume of his voice. Everyone else in the room looked both resigned and continued working without paying any attention to what the major was saying._

"_You're a State Alchemist?" Reid asked, having noticed the man's title._

"_Indeed I am, young doctor! I am the renowned Strong Arm Alchemist! Alchemy has been a skill passed down the Armstrong family line for generations!" he boomed and reached to tear his shirt off, but Hawkeye was quick to intervene and distract him before he could._

"_Forgive me, Major, but I believe you said you had a message to pass on to Lieutenant Colonel Elric from General Armstrong?"_

"_Ah yes, forgive me. I was just so excited to meet three of those whom young Edward holds in such high regards," Armstrong said, causing Ed to flush bright red. Al had to smother the giggles created at his brother's expense, but he wasn't subtle enough if the light punch to the shoulder he received was anything to go by. "My dear sister wished for me to let Lieutenant Colonel Elric know that she is feeling much stronger since she woke up yesterday and would warmly welcome a visit from him and his companions at any time," he continued with a dazzling smile._

"_She really said that?" Ed asked, disbelief dripping from every word. The Ice Queen of the North had said she would 'warmly welcome' a visit from him?_

"_Not in those exact words, but it's what she meant," Major Armstrong said and Ed and Al exchanged a Look. They had a pretty good idea of what she'd really said. "I didn't see Lieutenant Ross this morning. I assume she reported for duty as planned?"_

_Ed nodded. "Yup. She's with the three missing agents talking to Führer Grumman at the moment," Ed told him and he looked relieved._

"_That is wonderful news! I'm glad that she is able to help with your investigation! She has proven herself to be trustworthy and loyal, as you know! Should you require Master Sergeant Brosh as an extra pair of reliable hands please let me know and I will send him to you immediately!" Reid was starting to believe that Major Armstrong only had one volume for his voice and that was to make sure people a mile away could hear him._

"_That's awesome. If we need him, I'll send for him," Edward smiled gratefully._

"_My sister and I both desire to make sure that this investigation uncovers the true mastermind behind these crimes, therefore I would also like to extend my help as well. Should you require the strength that has been passed down the Armstrong family for generations, simply ask for Alex Louis Armstrong!" Armstrong boomed, flexing his arms once more._

"_Thanks, Major, we will," Ed said honestly, despite the slight twitch in his face at the major's volume._

_Armstrong bowed slightly. "As much as I would like to stay here all day and help you with your endeavors, I do have prior duties I must attend to," he stated with a touch of regret in his voice._

"_We understand. Thank you, Major Armstrong. We'll let you know if we require your help," Hawkeye said with a soft smile._

"_Yeah, thanks Major," Ed said, giving him his usual, blinding smile._

"_You're most welcome, Captain Hawkeye, young Edward. It was a pleasure meeting you all. I hope we have the opportunity to get to know one another better before you must leave. I shall take my own leave now. Good day," Armstrong rumbled. A chorus of goodbyes followed him as he turned and left the room, closing the door gently behind him._

_Silence reigned over the room for a few seconds in the wake of the major's departure. Mustang's team and the two Elric brothers seemed to shrug off any lingering effects of Armstrong's presence and return to their work, but it took the BAU agents a little longer to get used to the change in the atmosphere of the room in his absence._

"_He's very..." JJ seemed to mull over her words for a moment, "…intense, isn't he?"_

"_You have no idea. Just be grateful the captain stopped him before he stripped," Ed muttered as he leaned back over his and Al's work. The three BAU agents had given each other looks, asking silently if they thought Ed had been joking._

"Enter," Ed's voice broke Reid out of his memories and put his attention to the door once more. It opened to permit Lieutenant Ross and the three other agents back into the office. "Oh hey. All done with Grumman?" Ed asked as he watched them enter.

"Yes. He gave us some interesting answers and a couple of leads. We need to talk to General Combes and General Widdon," Hotch told him and Ed looked only slightly surprised but he looked over his shoulder at Hawkeye, who nodded and picked up the receiver of the phone at her desk.

"Captain Hawkeye will see if they're available to talk with you today," Ed told them. "I'll go with you and Lieutenant Ross when you speak with them. I don't trust them not to try and pull something," Ed scowled slightly.

"So do you think it could be political?" Morgan asked. Hotch shook his head slightly.

"I don't think so, but we need to be certain. Prentiss is certain that these two generals merely seized the opportunity Mustang being framed gave them to be rid of him and make a power play of their own."

Morgan nodded. "I think I've ruled out admiration or attraction as the motives as well. There haven't been any letters or calls to gloat or ask for praise that would normally indicate those being the reasons behind the killings."

"So that leaves us with revenge," Rossi said. "Assuming neither general gives us reason to believe otherwise, that is," he amended. None of the other agents looked like they thought that would happen.

"Thank you." Hawkeye's goodbye had them looking over towards her. "The generals have graciously agreed to meet with you in twenty minutes in General Widdon's office." The captain's voice was level but there was a spark of annoyance in her eyes that told Ed that the generals likely weren't that gracious about it.

"We should head over there now," he declared as he climbed to his feet. "Morgan, are you gonna go interview Mustang now?" The dark-skinned agent nodded. "Captain, do you think you can go with him? You can give Mustang an update on what we're doing, and you'll probably remember stuff he's forgotten."

"Of course, sir," Hawkeye said.

"Hey, pretty boy, you coming with me?" Morgan asked, causing Reid to scramble to his feet when Sheska said she'd be alright going over the files by herself for a while.

"Havoc, you're in charge until the captain or I get back," Ed told the other man and glared daggers when Havoc gave him a salute paired with a shit-eating grin.

* * *

Ed, Hotch, Rossi, Prentiss, Lieutenant Ross, Morgan, Hawkeye, and Reid walked out of the office and headed in the same direction at first for the journey to their respective destinations. Quite a few soldiers were out and about in the halls, thanks to the fact that it wasn't lunchtime yet, so they still had to work. Ed, Ross, and Hawkeye were effective enough that no one did much more than offer a 'good morning' or 'hello' as they passed by. After a few minutes of traversing the halls, the two groups split with Hawkeye, Morgan, and Reid continuing one way towards the holding cells while the others turned down another corridor to get to Widdon's office. Hawkeye wished them luck and gave Ed a look that had the blond alchemist assuring her that he knew what he was doing.

This section of Central Command was a little less populated, being in the west wing of the building, while Mustang's office was in the east wing and they'd had to traverse through the main part of the building to reach it. Edward explained that these wings were for smaller units or teams similar to Mustang's; small groups that had specific assignments or areas of expertise, so there was less traffic from the general military population.

"Agent Rossi?" Ross asked a touch hesitantly. Rossi made an acknowledging noise that gave the lieutenant permission to ask her question. "If you don't mind me asking, what is a Marine Corps?"

Rossi seemed a little surprised by the question. "The Marine Corps is one of the five main branches of our country's armed forces. The Marine Corps works most closely with the Navy, but we do perform expeditionary and amphibious operations with the Army and Air Force at need." Ross still seemed confused, and even Ed had to admit to some curiosity.

"Navy? Air Force? Army?" Ross asked.

Rossi nodded. "Your military, from what Edward and General Mustang have told us would be the most similar to our Army – they specialise in ground combat, infantry operations, and seizing and controlling vital enemy positions, like land, natural resources, and helping to control insurgent populations." The Amestrians considered that description for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Our Air Force defends the air space around our country but is also prepared for a rapid and lethal mobilization anywhere in the world within a matter of hours if necessary. Their access to aircraft allows them to help secure and protect our forces anywhere in the world, run advance scouting, surveillance, and offensive missions, as well as provide aerial support for our troops on the ground."

Edward remembered what Reid had told him about airplanes during his first trip to America, but what Rossi was describing didn't really sound like the same sorts of planes that the youngest agent had described to him. Ross seemed overwhelmed at the idea that there was an entire branch of the military that could protect air space around a country.

"The Navy and the Coast Guard both work together to defend our sea borders, although the Coast Guard tends to work more domestically than the Navy and during peacetime works more on enforcing marine law and safety, marine environmental protection, and military support, but during times of war they operate directly under the Navy command. Our Navy has ships that go around the world and have the capability to attack from the sea as well as defend our own borders. The Marine Corps partner with all the different branches, but as a rule is the first force on the ground when needed. The Marine Corps are trained and equipped to run any sort of operation required of them and can operate from air, land, or sea at need. Their whole purpose is to be versatile, hard-hitting, and fast-moving – a strike force if you will," Rossi concluded.

"And you were in the Marine Corps?" Ross asked. When Rossi nodded, she looked thoughtful. "What rank are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I rose to the rank of Sergeant Major before I left the Marine Corps and began my career in the FBI," Rossi replied. "As I was an enlisted soldier and a non-commissioned officer, that was the highest rank I could achieve within the Corps, and it took me about twenty years to do so."

"Non-commissioned officer?" Ross asked as both she and Edward exchanged confused looks.

"Yes. There are two basic ways for someone to join the Corps. I walked into a recruitment center and enlisted that way. A non-commissioned officer starts from the bottom and must work their way up to Sergeant Major. A commissioned officer must have a four-year university degree before applying to the Corps, unless he or she gets their degree through the Naval Academy. After that, a prospective officer has to complete preliminary training and the Officer Candidate School before beginning a more specialised training regime. If the prospective officer completes all of the required training successfully, they begin their military service as a second lieutenant and, in theory, could achieve a rank as high as general before the end of their career," Rossi explained.

"So, a State Alchemist in our military would be similar to a commissioned officer?" Ross asked.

Now it was Rossi's turn to look confused. "How so?"

"A State Alchemist is automatically granted the rank of major once he or she passes the exam and is certified in the position by the Führer," Ross replied and Edward nodded in agreement. "While State Alchemists aren't required to attend the military academy, many State Alchemists do become members of the military before taking the exam."

"So you were a major when you were twelve?" Rossi asked Edward.

"Yup. Irritated a lot of people when they found out a twelve-year-old could order them around. Probably helped me more than it hurt me though when those same people realised I didn't care about my rank and I didn't believe in using my rank to order people around unless I had no other choice." Ed shrugged his left shoulder nonchalantly. "I was far more concerned with using the military's resources to achieve my goals and help my brother than I was about using the military to climb the ranks. I'm sure a couple of my missions probably would have been cause for a promotion, but it was never offered because the homunculi knew it wouldn't be necessary to keep me in the military and I would've told them to fuck off anyway."

"Why did you accept the promotion now?" Prentiss asked.

"Needed to. Now that I've been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Brookes and I are equals. Since Brookes and I actually respect each other, something that the generals know, if I hadn't accepted the promotion they might have been able to pressure Brookes into having me stand down on the investigation. It wouldn't have actually worked because of the clause in my contract, but Captain Hawkeye pointed out that I might have actually done what Brookes was asking if I found out the generals were pressuring him. It would have been resolved eventually, but we would have lost time that we could have been investigating while I went after the generals. My being the same rank as Brookes helps to ensure that the generals won't try to use him to stop me," Ed replied as they reached the outer door to Widdon's office.

The general's office was set up in much the same way as Mustang's office: a large outer office where the members of Widdon's team had their desks and where visitors could wait for their meeting with the general, with a door leading into the general's private office. Unlike Mustang's office, Widdon's secretary and personal assistant was a civilian like Sheska. She looked up when they entered the room after a polite knock on the door.

"May I help you?" she asked.

Ross stepped forward. "We're here for a meeting with General Widdon and General Combes. Captain Hawkeye called a few minutes ago."

The secretary nodded and rose to her feet, hurrying to the inner office door, knocking rapidly, and slipping inside when she was permitted. Edward and Ross exchanged a glance while the BAU agents kept their eyes on the two members of Widdon's team that were in the office at the time. No one said anything and the agents chose to mimic Ross' neutral mask rather than Ed's bored one.

After a couple of minutes, the inner office door opened again and the pretty, blonde secretary stepped out. "General Widdon and General Combes will see you now," she told them. Ross and Edward immediately started forward with the agents falling into step behind them. The secretary stood to the side allowing them to enter the office.

"Thank you, miss," Ed said, giving her a quick smile as he walked into the office. Her head jerked up a little in surprise, like she'd never been acknowledged by someone walking into the general's office. She gave him a small, tentative smile back before shutting the door when Prentiss had made her way through, shutting the group in with the two generals.

"General Widdon, General Combes." Ross greeted after a couple of moments of silence as she snapped a salute, her face impassive. The two generals made her wait a few seconds before releasing her from the salute.

"Let's get this over with. We're very busy and don't have the time to waste on something as useless as this interview," Widdon said snootily. Edward scoffed in disbelief but managed to make it sound very poorly like a cough.

"Of course, General. We wouldn't want to keep you from your busy schedule any more than necessary," Ross said passively. "As you may remember from yesterday, these are some of the defense's consultants. Mr. Hotchner, Mr. Rossi, and Ms. Prentiss wish to ask you a few questions regarding Brigadier General Mustang's arrest and the crimes he's been accused of."

Combes scoffed quietly when Prentiss was introduced and Ed's golden eyes flicked right over to him, darting to take in the general's expression before he nodded once to himself, like he'd just been proven right about something. Widdon noticed.

"Something you'd like to share, _Lieutenant Colonel_ Elric?" he asked snidely, overly emphasizing Edward's new rank.

"Just had a suspicion confirmed, that's all," Ed told him dismissively, going right back to ignoring them, draping himself in one of the chairs in front of Widdon's desk. Combes' mouth twitched as he held himself back from snarling at Edward's overt display of disrespect.

"And what would that have been, _Lieutenant Colonel?_"

Ed almost quirked a brow at the way Widdon kept saying his rank as though it was a derogatory term. "That Combes is a sexist prick." He shrugged. "You probably are as well, but you're better at hiding it which is actually hilarious considering you have people like Lieutenant General Armstrong above you in rank." He watched in fascination as their faces seemed to pale a little bit at some memory. Ed really wanted to know now what actually happened during their interview with General Armstrong. He wondered if Brookes would tell him if he asked. Ed clapped his hands together and felt a tiny surge of amusement at the minute flinch from both generals before he looked over at the agents. "You lot going to ask your questions?"

Prentiss shot him a half-amused, half-scolding look, but Edward just winked at her.

Hotch cleared his throat. "General Widdon, General Combes, thank you for agreeing to talk with us. We're sure you're very busy men –"

"Unlikely," Ed muttered under his breath.

"– so we won't keep you longer than necessary," Hotch continued smoothly as though Ed hadn't interrupted. The look on the general's faces certainly said _they_ had noticed the interruption and weren't happy about it. "First, would you please tell us what kind of relationship you have with Mustang? Did you ever serve under or with him?"

Combes scoffed at the mention of either of them having served under Mustang.

"We've had the pleasure," Widdon didn't sound like he actually though that, "of working with the former brigadier general on a few occasions." Combes looked about as thrilled at the thought of the memories as Widdon sounded by mentioning them.

"May I ask what your thoughts of Mustang are?" Hotch asked as Prentiss pulled out a notepad and got ready to take notes. The way Combes and Widdon looked at her told Ed that the generals thought that notetaking was the only reason Prentiss was there.

"I thought he was a pompous asshole who had let the fact that he happens to know a rare alchemy get to his head and boost his ego," Widdon said with a sniff.

"You've got intimate experience with that," Ed snarked from his seat. Combes looked like he wanted to say something but managed to hold himself in check after a small shake of Widdon's head.

"Was this when he was a colonel, or after his promotion to brigadier general?" Hotch asked as Rossi continued to study Edward and Prentiss took notes.

"He was still a colonel when we first worked directly together," Widdon told them. "He had been temporarily assigned to Central City at the request of the late Führer Bradley. The Führer believed that my team and Mustang's team would work well together to put a stop to a weapons smuggling ring. I believe this was just after the Tucker incident."

Edward's face paled slightly and there was a brief moment, only noticed by Rossi as his golden eyes squeezed shut, as if he was remembering something painful.

"The former brigadier general acted as though he was in charge of the case, since there was an unsubstantiated rumour that the shot-caller in the smuggling ring was an alchemist," Widdon continued.

Ed gave a fake horrified gasp. "You mean the State Alchemist in charge of the team which practically specialises in catching rogue alchemists figured his experience meant that he should've had a fair amount of input in the planning and execution of an operation to catch a rogue alchemist? The _horror_. How did you survive?" Ed asked, his sarcasm reaching a near lethal level. Rossi's eyes narrowed a little.

"I don't recall you being there, _lieutenant colonel,_ so I don't see how your input is relevant," Widdon replied scathingly.

"After the Tucker incident, you said? I vaguely recall being too busy being stalked by Scar and then recovering from nearly being killed in the Fifth Laboratory around that time. You know, the lab where our illustrious Führer Bradley – who also happened to be a homunculus – had been running illegal and immoral experiments," Ed shot back. "After that, I was too busy uncovering the plot to destroy our country, but hey, getting pissed off at a colonel for using his experience to take the lead in taking out an alchemist illegally smuggling weapons was just as important and we can all understand why you're so cranky about it."

Ross looked like she was ready to put herself bodily between the generals and Edward. "If it makes you feel better about yourselves, Mustang thought you were a pair of dicks too," Ed added and Rossi finally figured out what Edward had been trying to do.

"Edward?" Rossi asked before Combes could launch himself at the blond and get his ass handed back to him by the teenager.

"Yeah?" Edward asked, leaning over the armrest of the chair so he could make eye contact with Rossi.

"Would you mind stepping outside with Hotch and Lieutenant Ross?" Hotch looked more surprised than Ed did with the request while Ross looked uncertain about the order. Ed, however, grinned.

"Sure, but Lieutenant Ross is staying. I don't trust those two not to turn around and claim you did something you didn't," Ed told him, rolling out of the chair and straightening his red coat while Combes and Widdon glared ineffectual daggers at him. Ross looked relieved, which made sense as her job was making sure that she stayed with the agents.

"Okay," Rossi agreed easily. Ed tugged on Hotch's sleeve to make him follow and the older man did so, his expression already smoothed back into its usual mask as he followed the blond out of the office. Ed made sure to slam the door a little harder than necessary.

* * *

Ed barely made it out into the corridor before he couldn't suppress his laughter anymore. Hotch looked torn between amused and confused and he wasn't a man who liked being confused by things, Garcia being the only exception. No one would ever understand Penelope Garcia.

"What's so funny, Edward?" Hotch asked as they leaned against the wall opposite the doors so they could wait for the others.

They had startled the general's secretary and the one soldier who was still in the office when they'd emerged. Ed had assured her that everything was alright and that the three other members of their group were still conducting the interview with the generals. The secretary had nodded, unsure, but finally accepted his assurances since she couldn't hear any screaming. The other soldier had watched them with eagle eyes as they left the outer office and once the doors had closed, Ed began laughing.

"They were getting so mad!" Ed managed as he straightened and calmed himself down slowly. "I almost wish Rossi had given me more time to annoy them before he tossed us out, but they might have actually tried to kill me." Ed sighed wistfully, before catching Hotch's flat expression. "What?"

"Why exactly were we asked to leave?" Hotch asked, having figured that from Ed's reaction that he had at least an idea of why they were waiting outside.

"So Rossi could try and sympathise with them," Ed replied. "I got the idea when Rossi was explaining the difference between commissioned and non-commissioned officers. I figured that if Rossi caught on and asked me to leave, he could use the fact that he's also been in the military to sympathise with them about having to deal with younger, less experienced soldiers who were higher ranked than him because of a special reason and gain an 'in' with the generals. Of course, it could go the complete opposite and the generals might be even bigger dicks to Rossi because I listened to him without fighting and they can barely say two words without getting attitude from me."

"So why was I sent out with you?" Hotch asked and Ed shrugged.

"I dunno," he replied, looking completely unconcerned. Hotch still seemed confused, but decided he'd just ask Dave when he left the general's office.

* * *

Rossi watched the two generals as they watched Hotch and Edward leave the office and he had to hold back his disgust at the open sneer on Combes' face and the disdain in Widdon's eyes. He would literally have to be blind to miss the amount of scorn they felt towards Ed and it really was no surprise the blond alchemist held the two generals in the same regard. Rossi had discovered early on that Edward had a refreshing quality to him where he would treat someone with the same level of respect that they gave him.

"Shall we continue?" Rossi asked, startling the generals from their staring. He hid the smirk he felt playing on his lips when he heard the outer office door just barely cross the threshold into being slammed.

"What else do you need to ask us?" Widdon asked a touch impatiently.

"You were telling us that you felt that Mustang had shown impertinence because he didn't heed to your experience immediately. Something I am curious about is why you felt that Mustang should have done so? From what I've seen of and heard from Edward and Mustang, their main jobs in the military are hunting down and arresting criminal alchemists. If the person at the head of this smuggling ring was a rogue alchemist, why wouldn't you have allowed the person with the most experience dealing with that kind of criminal take point?" Rossi asked. He kept his gaze calm and made sure not to give the generals any sign that he was intimidated by them as General Combes glared at him while Widdon seemed to be assessing him rather than glaring.

"Mustang may have had more experience tracking and catching rogue alchemists, but he did not – and still doesn't – have the same total amount of experience in the military that we do. We allowed him to have input in taking down the leader, but his inexperience in dealing with every other aspect of the case would have cost us the arrest. We could not risk someone without the appropriate level of knowledge and overall experience take the lead merely because he and the leader of the smuggling ring happened to be alchemists," Widdon told him.

Prentiss glanced at Rossi out of the corner of her eye, her long black hair acting as a curtain to prevent the generals from seeing the eye roll she gave him.

"You believe Mustang isn't as capable as the two of you because he has had less time serving in the military, despite the fact that he now holds the rank of brigadier general? Please correct me if I'm mistaken, but Mustang's service record indicates that he graduated at the top of his class from the military academy, and that shortly after graduating he was dispatched to serve on the front lines during the Ishvalan Civil War," Rossi said, pretending to consult his notes. "That would seem to indicate that not only did he demonstrate a high level of talent and capability during his basic training, but that he got first-hand experience almost immediately after completing that basic training."

Widdon didn't bother to hold back his sneer this time. "He only managed to gain the rank of brigadier general as quickly has he has because he became a State Alchemist and started his career at the rank of Major rather than starting out as an enlisted man like the rest of us."

"I understand your irritation." Rossi made sure to appear sympathetic without being condescending. "The country I'm from has a military that is very similar to yours, and two ways to enlist and serve. Like you, I started from the bottom of the chain of command and worked my way up to the highest level I was able to achieve before I discharged and moved on to my current career as an investigator. During my years of service with the military, however, I did have superior officers who were the same age or younger than me because they happened to have something the military held in high regards. I didn't think that it was very fair that I reached the highest rank I could before I discharged and had superiors who were decades younger than me and with far less practical military experience."

Combes and Widdon both gave him a suspicious look, but Rossi made sure his face stayed open and honest. After a few moments, their suspicion seemed to ease and he knew he'd succeeded in making them see him as someone they would be able to relate to.

"I'm glad to hear that someone in your group is approaching this case with an open mind rather than as some desperate attempt to try and free a guilty man," Combes told him, lips curling unpleasantly when he mentioned Mustang. Ross and Prentiss were able to keep their faces neutral with an effort.

"May I ask, generals, why you are so certain that Mustang isn't being set up? From what I've seen and know of him from the previous times we've worked with him, I wouldn't have believed him to be the kind of person to rid himself of people with minor grievances against him in such a violent and obvious manner," Rossi said.

Combes scoffed. "Mustang believed that he was too smart to be caught. He knows as well as any other high-ranking officer that even insignificant enemies can turn into larger problems if they're not kept in check. I believe that Mustang was counting on his rank and the obvious soft spot Führer Grumman has for him to protect him from any sort of prosecution."

"What makes you think that Führer Grumman has a soft spot for Mustang?" Rossi asked as Prentiss' pen scrawled across the pages of her notebook.

"Because he was under Führer Grumman's command while he was based in East City, and because Führer Grumman's granddaughter is Mustang's captain and personal aide," Widdon told them. Rossi and Prentiss were only just able to keep the surprise off their faces at the mention of Hawkeye's relation to the Führer.

"I see," Rossi replied after a moment to suppress his reaction. "Given how quickly Mustang seems to be rising through the ranks, do you believe that if he hadn't been arrested for these crimes, he might have ended up as the Führer one day? Were you worried about what that might mean for Amestris?"

Prentiss shot him a shocked look from behind the screen of her hair. While the BAU knew of Mustang's ambition to become Führer, that didn't seem to be a fact that was well known outside of Mustang's team and his close friends, at least from what he and Edward had mentioned in the past.

"Mustang would never be allowed to rise to the rank of Führer. Amestris has never had an alchemist in charge of her military for good reason. Alchemists are too powerful. They would destroy the country if one was in charge, so no, I don't believe Mustang would ever become Führer. Amestris would never have let him," Widdon said firmly, but Combes was nodding in agreement with his fellow general's words. Despite their apparent resolve in what Widdon was saying, Rossi found it interesting that there was a flicker of fear in both of their faces when they thought of an alchemist becoming Führer. He glanced at Prentiss and could tell that she had seen it too.

"So the two of you are completely, absolutely convinced that Mustang is the one behind these murders and the attack on General Armstrong?" Rossi asked, and both of them nodded with conviction. "Okay. Prentiss, did you have any questions for the generals?" His question startled the two men, and Rossi could tell that Ed hadn't been wrong about the two of them and their attitude towards women, but he knew he shouldn't really be surprised. The blond alchemist was, after all, rarely wrong.

"Just one, Rossi," Prentiss said and when he nodded at her, she turned to the generals and leveled them with a pleasant, yet sharp smile. "What would the two of you personally gain from Mustang being convicted, whether he was jailed or executed?"

The effect was immediate. Widdon's face acquired a neutral mask, while Combes started turning red and looked to be only moments away from exploding in rage.

"We would simply be able to say that we'd rid the military of someone who was unstable and unfit for his rank, and that we kept the public safe from a dangerous criminal," Widdon replied.

Prentiss couldn't help but be reminded of some of the teenaged persons of interest they'd interviewed over the years who would give the team the answers they thought would make them look selfless and not like suspects. Prentiss made sure that her disbelief was openly, yet subtly on her face as she held the generals' gazes.

"Okay. That's all I needed to know," Prentiss told Rossi and they both shifted slightly backwards towards the doors.

"Thank you for your time generals. I'm sure you have plenty to do so we'll leave you to it. Have a nice day," Rossi said as Lieutenant Ross moved to the inner office doors and opened them for the agents.

The generals never said anything, merely offering a nod as Rossi and Prentiss left the room. Ross paused long enough to offer a salute and her own goodbye to the generals, as military protocol demanded. The generals had her hold the salute for five seconds before dismissing her with an uninterested wave. She made sure to keep her face blank as she nodded to Widdon's secretary and the other soldier in the office before rejoining the rest of the group in the corridor.

"So it went that good, huh?" Ed asked as soon as he got a good look at her blank expression, honest sympathy written on his own.

"I would rather be your bodyguard again than sit through what I just did again," she told him drily, causing Ed to cackle in delight.

"Oh wow. I didn't think anything could trump being worse than trying to guard us, given your complaints after the fifth lab," Ed grinned once he'd stopped laughing. "Come on, you can tell me what they said while we head back to the office. It's nearly lunchtime."

Ross quietly filled Ed in on what Rossi and the generals had talked about while Rossi and Prentiss had their own consultation with Hotch in a low tone. Ed rolled his eyes when he heard about the generals' claims that Mustang should have let them take the lead on that smuggling case because the generals felt their numerous years in the military trumped the fact that Mustang had more experience catching criminal alchemists than the two of them in total.

"Right, like two desk jockeys that have likely never actually fought in combat on the front lines would know anything about catching criminal alchemists or what it's like to actually risk your life." He scoffed before turning his attention back to the agents. "So, do you guys think politics could still be the motive behind this?"

"Honestly?" Prentiss asked. "I would be surprised if we found the killer and their motive was politically related." Both Rossi and Hotch nodded in agreement.

"Morgan didn't really tell us much about what he and Captain Hawkeye spoke about. He said he wanted to talk to Mustang first, and he wanted to wait and tell everyone all at once," he grumbled petulantly as they turned a corner and Ed bumped into Morgan, who managed to grab his flesh arm to stop him from toppling over as Hawkeye and Reid drew level with them. "Oh, hey guys. How'd it go with Mustang?" he asked after Morgan released him once he had his balance again.

"Good. We got a few more answers to a couple of questions that Captain Hawkeye had already answered for me that may help further down the line," Morgan told him.

"Sweet. Mustang hasn't been driven crazy from boredom yet? Has he started asking for paperwork?" Ed asked, although the grin that started to form at the thought fell when Hawkeye shook her head. "We'll get him to ask for it before he's released, and you can use it against him forever," Ed promised, completely straight faced and _almost_ selling the serious expression, if it hadn't been for the glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

"I'd certainly not be averse to that," Hawkeye replied. "I am, however, going on record to say that I am not encouraging it either." Ed nodded before grinning sharply, his mind already forming, dismissing, and filing away potential ideas.

"So what are we doing next?" Reid asked before Ed could get too lost his thoughts. The youngest agent looked between Ed, Hawkeye, Hotch, and Rossi.

"Ah, well, Hotch said he wanted to get everyone together at lunch and discuss what we figured out, right?" Ed looked to Hotch for confirmation, and the team leader nodded, so Ed continued. "So, we'll do that, I guess. I'm hoping that someone thought to go get lunch while we were gone so we don't have to wait for food. After that, it depends where you guys think you should go next."

"Speaking of things to discuss," Rossi said, "have the generals searched Mustang's home yet?" He watched with amusement as Ed struggled and failed to keep his own amusement in check.

"Unfortunately for the generals, they are unable to execute a search warrant on Brigadier General Mustang's residence until both Lieutenant Colonel Elric and I are available to accompany them and supervise the search at all times. Führer Grumman has acknowledged that General Mustang has sensitive research texts and tools related to his alchemy and that it could mean a nation-wide disaster on the scale of the riots in Liore or the Ishvalan Civil War if that research found its way into the wrong hands. As Lieutenant Colonel Elric and I are the only ones familiar enough with General Mustang's alchemy and high-level alchemic research in general, we are the only ones who can accompany them and both of us are required since the general's house is large enough to warrant two groups to search it," Hawkeye told them, voice level and matter-of-fact.

"Yeah, it's been hard finding a time when the two of us both had a few hours free at the same time for some reason. Real mystery," Ed added, his voice filled with a tone of mock shock. Morgan and Reid had to cover their laughs when Hotch gave them a droll look, before he turned to Ed with an expression that told him he was a little worried about the situation. Ed laughed again, this time reassuringly. "Don't worry, we've had legit reasons. We'll probably be able to join them in raiding Mustang's house tomorrow or the day after." He wanted to make sure Hotch knew that he was aware of exactly how close he could get to the line without crossing it. As much as Ed wanted to see that happen, he didn't really want it to happen while they were still trying to get Mustang out of jail.

"Good, because there might be something in his house that can help him out," Hotch reminded them. "It might be a good idea to let the generals enter his house sooner rather than later."

Ed let out a long-suffering sigh at the thought of having to willingly spend any more time around the generals. "Fine. Assuming nothing happens that needs me or Captain Hawkeye at the office or a scene, we'll offer to accompany those two dumbasses tomorrow after the paperwork is done." Ed looked at Hawkeye to see if she was on board with that plan.

"I believe the generals should be amenable to that plan," Hawkeye replied.

Morgan lightly rapped Ed on his automail shoulder, causing a metallic clang where his knuckles met the metal. "I'm sure you'll find plenty of things to snark at them about while you're watching them search the house," he teased, trying to lighten the teen's mood a little. Judging from the sudden grin on Edward's face, he might have done so a bit too well, and if Hawkeye's expression was anything to go by, she would make Morgan regret it in some painful way if Edward did something that she didn't approve of.

* * *

"Hey Chief!" Havoc's voice came from the other end of the corridor as the eight of them approached the office door. They all looked up automatically to see Havoc and Fuery hurrying down the hallway towards them, weighed down with bags.

"Hey Havoc. What are you guys doing?" Ed asked as he reached out to take some of Fuery's bags, to the other man's relief. Havoc seemed a little upset that Ed hadn't taken any of his bags, but the disappointment disappeared when Hawkeye gave him an unimpressed look.

"Al told us that you would probably want food, so we did a lunch run."

"Al knows me too well," Ed replied, nodding seriously. Havoc and Morgan both rolled their eyes at the teen as Hawkeye opened the door to the office and let them through first, much to the delight of everyone else still inside.

"I think I got everyone what they wanted," Havoc announced before he glanced at Ed's group. "Everyone helped figure out what kinds of sandwiches you guys would like." He, Ed, and Fuery placed the bags on one of the desks, carefully avoiding the stacks of case files before they proceeded to hand out everyone's orders. Once everyone had food in their hands, they settled down at their own desks and everyone else found a comfortable spot to sit and eat.

There wasn't much discussion during the meal while everyone devoured their food. Ed was not the only one who was starving, if the way that almost no one looked up from their sandwiches was any indication. Even Hawkeye was more focused on her food rather than her work, which was a first in Ed's memory over all the years he'd known her. It wasn't until the last crumbs had been consumed that someone finally spoke.

"How did you do with the generals, Brother? How badly did you piss them off?" Al asked, looking a little frightened at the fact that Ed had been able to run rampant without Al there to try and rein him in a little.

"I may have implied that they were sexist assholes and dicks," Ed told him.

"Does the word 'imply' mean 'tell them straight to their face' in Amestris?" Prentiss asked with a tone of false curiosity. Ed shot a glare at her as Al looked at him with horror.

"Brother!"

Ed rolled his eyes in exasperation at Al's expression. "They were though! Besides, my _implications_," Ed glared at Prentiss again but she didn't look overly fazed by the look, "served a purpose other than me being a shit to them. That was just a side benefit."

Al had the biggest look of disbelief on his face that Ed had ever seen. "Really?" The level of skepticism in his brother's tone wasn't warranted in Ed's opinion, and there were some muffled snorts of laughter from around the room.

"Yes, _really_, Alphonse," Ed told him. "It gave Rossi an opportunity to earn some points with the generals by being able to express sympathy about having to deal with young, highly-ranked officers in the military, and for them to underestimate Prentiss because she's a woman once Hotch and I left." He shoved the final bite of his sandwich in his mouth.

"Why did Hotch go with you?" Al asked, looking between Ed, Rossi, and Hotch.

"I dunno," Ed replied around his mouthful. JJ, Prentiss, and Hawkeye all glared at him until he swallowed his food and offered a sheepish, apologetic smile.

"I figured that someone should stay with Ed so he didn't cause trouble," Rossi told Al.

"Hey!" Ed cried indignantly while a couple of the others smothered their laughter again.

"Good thinking, sir," Alphonse said, nodding along in an approving fashion.

"HEY!" Ed cried again, even more indignantly this time, and the betrayed expression on his face had Havoc, Morgan, Breda, Alphonse, and Prentiss laughing openly at him, not even bothering to try to smother or conceal their amusement. "You all suck," Ed grumbled, slouching down in his chair and folding his arms over his chest. Despite his pout, however, everyone could see the glint of good humour in his golden eyes. Al lightly bumped his fist against Ed's automail shoulder in a show of affection, and Ed rolled his eyes, but sat up straighter before he grabbed Al around the neck and ruffled his hair vigorously.

"Let's get down to business," Hotch said once Al squirmed out of Ed's grasp with a glare as he smoothed his short-cropped hair back into place. Everyone turned their full attention to Hotch. "So where do we stand right now with the first few interviews and the initial review of the case files done?"

"The autopsies proved that the murders were all nearly identical. All six victims, including General Armstrong, were hit with a blunt object on their right temple and sustained a severe, but – in the judgment of the coroner – not life-threatening head wound before being burned alive," Reid said. "The bodies were all burned from the waist up, but they weren't on fire long enough to result in a complete cremation."

"What about motivations?" Hotch asked. "Anything in the files or interviews done by Lieutenant Colonel Brookes that stand out as a clear motivation for General Mustang to have done this, or can we proceed with the assumption that he is indeed being framed for these crimes?"

Sheska and Reid exchanged looks before shaking their head. "There wasn't anything that I could see that would indicate the general isn't being framed," the mousey brunette said in a soft voice. Reid nodded in agreement.

"We still don't have all of the lab reports in yet," Reid added. "I'm assuming there are still some outstanding tests being done."

"Fair enough; we can check in with Lieutenant Colonel Brookes about that later," Hotch said and made a note on the pad of paper in front of him.

"I know you mentioned before that you didn't believe the reason behind the crimes to be political before you spoke to the generals. Did your interview with them confirm that suspicion?" Hawkeye asked, looking over at Hotch, Rossi, and Prentiss.

Rossi nodded. "I no longer believe politics to be any sort of motivator here." Prentiss nodded in agreement, as did Hotch.

"Same for me," Prentiss added. "I asked the generals what they would personally gain from General Mustang being locked away or executed and they gave me a bullshit answer about how it would remove a dangerous criminal from the streets and protect the public. When Rossi brought up the possibility of Mustang becoming Führer one day in the future, General Widdon stated that they believed that it would never happen because alchemists were too dangerous to be allowed to have that level of power." Ed scoffed quietly but didn't interrupt. "Reading between the lines, all these two want to do is make sure that Mustang cannot raise himself high enough on the military ladder where he could potentially be considered for the position of Führer. As I mentioned to Lieutenant Ross after we spoke to Führer Grumman, it was apparent to me that the generals simply seized the opportunity to rid themselves of someone whom they viewed as a massive threat to their power and position."

"Wouldn't that make them likely suspects for the ones behind this?" Havoc asked lighting a cigarette as he leaned back in his chair.

Prentiss shook her head. "I don't believe they had anything to do with the actual killings or the set-up, but I am sure that the true unsub counted on the generals being opportunistic like this and the generals fell right into the unsub's plans. General Armstrong stated in her interview with the generals and Lieutenant Colonel Brookes that her attacker wore a military uniform, so the unsub is most likely a member of the Amestrian armed forces. I would imagine that gossip flows pretty freely around here, and it wouldn't have been difficult for the unsub to learn that Mustang is viewed as a threat to many of the generals since the change in administration occurred." Prentiss looked annoyed by the thought that the generals had allowed themselves to be used and manipulated so easily.

The rest of Mustang's team nodded in agreement at that assumption after a moment of thought. Ed sighed. "So politics have been ruled out?" Prentiss, Rossi, and Hotch all nodded. "Thank fuck. That is way too annoying to have to deal with, considering Mustang's ambitions," he stated, his tone completely serious. Most of the group – with the exception of Hawkeye, Falman, Hotch, and Rossi – laughed or nodded in agreement. Falman and Rossi, however, didn't look as though they _completely_ disagreed with Edward's statement.

"Did you find out anything new from speaking with General Mustang or Captain Hawkeye today?" Hotch asked Morgan once everyone had settled down a bit.

"Unfortunately, no. It's clear that while Mustang has had a number of relationships and stalkers over the years Captain Hawkeye and his team are very efficient at dealing with the situations before they become problems," Morgan replied. Mustang's team had proud looks on their faces at the compliment. "Those that Captain Hawkeye identified for me as the most concerning stalkers or enemies from the past few years have all been verified to still be in prison back in East City and wouldn't have the ability to pull off something this elaborate from within prison. Mustang verified for me that no one has sent him any threatening or concerning letters or gifts that he hasn't told Captain Hawkeye about. I've asked him to think over the last six months carefully to try and remember every time that he thought he felt someone watching him a little too intensely. I'll go back and talk to him again tomorrow to see what he has come up with."

"So admiration and infatuation have been ruled out?" Havoc asked, curiously.

"Yes, I think it's safe to rule out those two motives as well, unless General Mustang remembers something that Captain Hawkeye didn't think of during our earlier conversation," Morgan agreed. "Crimes of obsession could lead to violence like this, but stalkers are also one of the most inconsistent type of unsub. Usually once the object of the obsession is out of their reach, they'll redirect their attention to someone else. Stalkers are also far more likely to attack the person they're fixated on, rather than proxies like this unsub has done."

"So we're left with revenge?" Ed asked.

"It would appear that way," Rossi said.

Ed screwed up his face in disgust and sighed. "I almost wish it was political now. We'd probably have less suspects that way."

"Brother," Al said with a tired sigh and a roll of his eyes.

"What? Not my fault Mustang can be a dick and a bastard to others," Ed grumbled back at his brother. "Exactly _how_ many times have I been kidnapped because the kidnapper wanted to use me to get to Mustang?"

"Good point," Al admitted after a moment of thought. He refused to give Edward the satisfaction of gloating, so he cut him off before it could even begin. "What do you plan on doing next?" he asked the BAU.

"I think Edward should take someone from our team down to the hospital and do a cognitive interview with Lieutenant General Armstrong," Morgan said leaning back in his chair.

"Me?" Ed asked incredulously. "Why am I the one going with you to interview her? She's not exactly my biggest fan. And what is a cognitive interview anyway?"

Reid shook his head. "Major Armstrong said 'my dear sister wishes for me to let Lieutenant Colonel Elric know that she is feeling much stronger since she woke up yesterday and would warmly welcome a visit from him and his companions at any time', which would indicate that she wishes to talk to you about something as well." Ed blinked at him for a moment.

"Huh. I didn't think of it like that," he admitted after a moment, but Mustang's team – with the exception of Hawkeye – looked at Reid like he'd grown an extra head.

"I'm fairly certain that's word-for-word what Major Armstrong said," Havoc said in amazement. "How did you do that?"

Reid's cheeks slowly turned red. "I have an eidetic memory. I can remember everything I've ever read and most things I've ever heard. It comes in handy a lot during cases," he said a little shyly.

"He's certainly saved our asses a few times," Morgan grinned as he reached over and ruffled Reid's hair, causing the younger agent to scowl at him. "And to answer your question, Ed, a cognitive interview is a sensory interview technique we use with living victims. It sometimes helps them jog their memories enough to give us more detail than they initially remembered."

"Who do you think should go with you Edward?" Hotch asked. "From what you said, I take it you know the Lieutenant General. Who would she be the most likely to respond positively to?"

Ed's brow furrowed in through before he made eye contact with Hawkeye. "Captain? I'm going to take Lieutenant Ross with me, but do you think Rossi or JJ should go with us?"

Hawkeye considered the two of them for a moment. "I would suggest that you take Agent Rossi with you Edward. I imagine that his military experience will work in your favour again, since General Armstrong respects other soldiers, especially those that have seen combat." She gave an apologetic look to JJ, who smiled and shook her head to show she didn't mind.

"Okay, so Lieutenant Ross and Rossi can come with me." Ed looked like he was talking about walking into a lion's den. A glance at the rest of Mustang's team from the BAU told them that they didn't think Ed's expression was overly dramatic. "When do you want to leave?" Ed asked the oldest agent.

"Any time," Rossi shrugged and smiled and Ed received a similar answer when he looked at Ross.

"Might as well go get it over with," Ed groaned. "What about the rest of you? What are you guys going to do?"

"We'll go over the case files with Reid and Sheska again and see if there are any new connections or observations that we can make with the new information that we've gathered from our interviews this morning," Hotch told him. "What we do after that depends on what we find out."

"Fair enough." After all, Ed knew that doing something without complete information was a bad thing. Of course, that never stopped him from actually doing it in most situations, and that little bit of hypocrisy didn't really bother him. "Just remember that one member of this team, Armstrong's team, or Brookes' team needs to be with you at all times." He started to stand up when something he'd been thinking about on the train the previous day occurred to him and he sat back down. "How dangerous do you think this killer is? Have they gotten what they wanted, with Mustang in jail and all?"

"Morgan?" Hotch asked. "You're our expert on stalking and obsessional crimes."

"The fact that a revenge motive is the only one that hasn't been ruled out with the information we have makes those questions a little more difficult to answer, so bear with me," Morgan said, waiting while the others nodded. "This unsub is something of a mystery. Normally, when someone is driven by revenge, it's against one person or group as a whole. In this case, he has gone to an extreme amount of trouble to set this up so perfectly that the only possible suspect would seem to be Mustang. The fact that there haven't even been any rumours reported about someone gloating about framing Mustang, someone with a need for attention trying to come forward and claim responsibility, or the unsub himself reaching out to show how much smarter they are than everyone else is very odd for a revenge-driven offender."

Nods from around the room indicated that everyone was following his train of thought so far. "If Mustang was the only target, I would have expected the unsub to go after him directly, since that is far more common with revenge motivations. If he didn't attack Mustang directly because of his proficiency with his flame alchemy, I would have expected him to attack someone Mustang is close to and take his revenge by harming someone Mustang cares about, but he hasn't done that which is unusual. The level of planning and the amount of time that went into this whole thing is phenomenal. The level of dedication this person had to have to pull a plan this complex off so flawlessly tells me that he is extremely organised and dedicated to his goal of going after Mustang. So far, Mustang's the only person who's really suffered at the hands of the unsub. Everyone else has only suffered indirectly from the unsub's actions. The families and friends of the victims aren't important to the unsub; they're just collateral damage in this case." There was something in Morgan's expression that had Ed thinking there was more to come.

"But?" Hawkeye asked, proving that Ed wasn't the only one to notice Morgan's expression.

"But the fact that there's been no communication whatsoever between the unsub and you guys or any direct communication between the unsub and Mustang in the form of threatening letters or phone calls makes me think that they're not done yet," Morgan revealed. "Any human who has put this much time, effort, and dedication into something like this is going to gloat once it succeeds. It is just human nature to make sure someone else knows what you've done when it works out as well as this plan seems to have done. I imagine that you guys would have heard _something_ by now if the unsub was finished. Since you haven't, I don't think that this unsub is done yet."

"How sure are you of that?" Breda asked, his usual cheery voice dulled to suit the atmosphere and the dire tone of Morgan's warning.

"I can only go off of what my past experiences and my gut are telling me, but I think there's a high chance that this unsub isn't finished yet. I think that they'll strike again soon. I just don't know how, when, where, or who against."

"But wouldn't that be proof that someone is framing the general, if the killer strikes again?" Fuery ventured cautiously.

"We already have evidence that the unsub has changed their M.O. once when he changed from targeting Mustang's rivals and enemies to his ally and friend when he went after Major General Andrews," Morgan replied. "It's possible that if he strikes again, he'll do it in a way that won't make it obvious that Mustang is being framed."

Ed rubbed his flesh hand tiredly over his face. "Alright." He looked around the room, his golden eyes moving over all of them. "New orders: no one goes anywhere alone. If you have to go home or to the shops, or anywhere else, take someone you trust completely with you – ideally someone in this room – and tell someone else where you're going and roughly when you think you'll both be back. That includes you guys," he added, indicating the BAU, Sheska, and Ross. "Until we figure out who the real criminal is, we can't risk someone else being hurt or worse because they were able to get one of us alone."

"I agree with Edward," Hawkeye said, piercing everyone with her stern gaze. "Do not leave this office _for any reason _without someone accompanying you. Those who live near one another should consider sleeping at one house. We need to be careful until we close this case. Is that understood?" Everyone nodded without a word of argument, causing her to nod in satisfaction.

"Okay. We'll go head to the hospital now," Ed said after a couple of moments of silence permeated the room. Even though he was confident that he wouldn't need someone to accompany him everywhere, he also knew that until this case was over, he was going to have to make some sacrifices. "When you guys know what you're going to do, let everyone that's staying here know," he added as he, Rossi, and Lieutenant Ross stood. "Hopefully we'll be back here inside of two hours. I can't imagine Lieutenant General Armstrong wanting to be in our company for much longer than that."

"Be nice, Brother," Al pleaded and Ed looked at him like he was crazy.

"You think I'm gonna pull my usual shit in front of the Ice Queen? Outside of the fact that I actually do respect her, especially after the help she gave us in defeating the homunculi, you do remember how she threw us in the holding cells at Briggs just because we wouldn't answer her questions, right? Are you getting sick or something, Al?" He placed his flesh hand on Al's forehead jokingly and laughed as Al swatted it away.

"It doesn't hurt to make sure when it comes to you, Brother," Al sniffed and yelped when Ed swatted him lightly on the back of the head before dancing out of the way so that Al couldn't retaliate.

"See ya!" Ed said, grinning at Al's scowl as he left the office with Rossi and Lieutenant Ross in tow.

"Is it bad that I almost hope General Armstrong gets angry at him for some reason?" Al muttered, barely loud enough to be heard by the others in the room as he rubbed the spot on the back of his head where Ed had hit him.

"Let's get to work," Hawkeye said, but Al couldn't help but notice that she didn't answer his question.

* * *

Ed led the other two down to the military carpool and requisitioned a car and driver to take them to the hospital. He was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by Sergeant Browning once more. After a quick hello and some introductions – since their rush to get to Central Command the previous day meant that the introductions had been neglected, the three of them climbed into the back of the car as Sergeant Browning got behind the wheel and headed for the hospital.

"So, Edward, why did you refer to General Armstrong as the 'Ice Queen'?" Rossi asked, curiously. "And what did you mean about her throwing you into the holding cells?"

Ed groaned in remembrance. "General Armstrong is the commanding officer of Fort Briggs. It's our most northern base and is the only thing standing between us and Drachma, the country to the north of our borders. Fort Briggs blocks the only pass where Drachma could hope to successfully bring an army through to invade us. General Armstrong has been in command of the Fort for over a decade now and shows no sign of retiring or wanting to be promoted back to Central. She's dedicated to protecting our borders. She personally trains all of her men and women at the Fort and claims that any single soldier serving under her is capable of defeating a grizzly bear in hand-to-hand combat."

Rossi looked like he wasn't sure how to react to that claim. "She sounds like a formidable woman."

"Oh, she is," Ed replied. "We first met her when Al and I travelled north chasing this young girl named Mei Chang, a princess from Xing. Mei is an alkahestrist, and we first encountered her when we were trying to apprehend Scar, and then again the first time we met the homunculi's Father. She got hurt during a fight and Al took her to a doctor that Mustang introduced us to, but she disappeared the next morning before we could go back and ask her to teach us what she knew about alkahestry. We spent almost a week looking for her here in Central before Mustang tipped us off that she'd been seen heading north. Major Armstrong told us to head to Briggs first and speak to his sister, and he gave us a letter of introduction. Well, the first time we encountered her and gave her the letter, she tore it up without even reading it. I believe she said something about not putting any stock in the words of others and preferring to judge a person based on her own observations."

He shook his head. "She doesn't tolerate fools and she has a pretty cynical and suspicious outlook about other people. Even though I had the pocket watch and title proving that I was a State Alchemist, she refused to trust my word alone. Because there were some things that Al and I couldn't tell her about – like the homunculi – she knew we were hiding something and she had us thrown into the holding cells for a few days until she was able to get us alone where there wouldn't be any prying ears who could have reported back on us to the homunculi. Once we told her the truth about everything, though, she became an ally. We couldn't have won on the Promised Day without her support and the support of her troops. Her moniker of the Ice Queen is partially because of her position as commander of Fort Briggs, and partly because of her own personality."

Rossi nodded thoughtfully. "So appealing to duty would probably work, but we don't want to refer to her as a victim, if she prides herself on her strength as a soldier. What else can you tell me?"

For the rest of the drive, Edward related what he knew about General Olivier Mira Armstrong based on his previous encounters with her and what he had heard she'd been doing since the Promised Day. He was just starting to tell them about how she had deceived General Raven into giving them information about the Promised Day when Sergeant Browning brought the car to a stop outside the hospital. "Thanks, Sergeant," Edward replied as they started to exit the vehicle.

"No trouble at all, sir," Browning assured him. "Would you like me to stay here with the car until you're finished?"

Ed's brows furrowed as he considered the offer for a moment. "No, we should be alright. I'll call for a car if we need one. But thanks anyway," he added with a quick smile.

"Okay, sir. Good luck," Browning replied, beginning to offer a salute that Ed waved him out of before he could even complete the gesture.

"Thanks, Sergeant," Ed said once more before he, Rossi, and Lieutenant Ross moved away from the car and headed for the front entrance.

The hospital was relatively busy and Rossi was amused to see the cautious looks Edward was given by some of the nurses and even a couple of the doctors as they walked past them. Rossi noted that every nurse or doctor who passed them took a moment to glance up and down each of them, searching for anything to indicate an injury, before continuing on their way. Once their path to the admissions desk was clear, Ed led them over and waited until the nurse manning the desk was free to talk.

"Major Elric. How can we help you?" the red-haired nurse, who had an attractive pixie cut that framed her face and brought out her green eyes asked the moment she had finished with what she was doing.

"Hey Emma. It's actually Lieutenant Colonel now," Ed said with a warm smile. "We're here to chat with Lieutenant General Armstrong about her attack, if we may, please?" He didn't bother asking her not to use his rank, since every time he'd been at the hospital, either as a patient or a visitor, and asked them not to use his rank he'd been ignored. Eventually he'd just given up and let them have the win, sometime during the months that he'd been taking care of Al after the Promised Day.

"Congratulations, Edward," she replied sincerely. "Let me call Doctor Evans and see if she's taking visitors at this time. Please wait one moment," Emma replied as she reached for the phone receiver on her desk before Ed had even nodded agreement. They waited as she called the doctor who was General Armstrong's primary physician. "Doctor Evans, this is Nurse Emma from the admissions desk. Lieutenant Colonel Elric and two of his colleagues are requesting visitation with Lieutenant General Armstrong. May I send them through?" She paused to listen to the doctor's response. "No, his companions aren't the generals," she replied after a moment and Ed choked back a laugh. Emma's green eyes twinkled with amusement. "I'll let them know. Thank you, doctor."

Emma hung the phone back up and looked at Edward. "Do you remember the room you stayed in when you were admitted after you were stabbed last year?" she asked.

"Yup," Ed said, ignoring the look on Rossi's face.

"Good. Lieutenant General Armstrong is in the room right across the hall, number four-oh-seven."

Ed nodded and started to turn away. "Thanks, Emma." He grinned at her before heading down a corridor towards a bank of elevators with a purposeful stride, Rossi and Lieutenant Ross following him closely.

"You got stabbed?" Rossi asked as they entered an empty elevator car.

Ed nodded. "Yeah. Lieutenant Ross knows about that one, since it was when she and Brosh were guarding Al and me while Scar was on the loose, but I've been stabbed a few times over the last few years. I didn't even really need to be hospitalised for that one, but Doctor Evans completely overreacted and said I'd lost too much blood. He refused to discharge me for three days."

"How dare Doctor Evans make sure his patient was alright, rather than let him loose while he was still injured?" Rossi asked sarcastically, causing the lieutenant to struggle to keep her amusement hidden behind her neutral expression as Ed glared at the agent. As the elevator opened on the fourth floor, Ed led the way around the corner and spotted the room immediately. It helped that there was a doctor standing just outside the door, a deep scowl etched into his face.

"Hey Doc," Edward called as they approached. Evans lifted his eyes from the clipboard in his hand and looked over the three people approaching him. The scrutinising glare intensified when it was turned on Rossi and the lieutenant; Ed merely got the same once over they'd all received from every doctor they'd passed since entering the hospital.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric," Evans dipped his head at Ed. "Congratulations on not being killed before you got a promotion. I'm fairly certain there's a betting pool in the hospital about what rank you'll reach before your stubbornness gets the best of you." His tone was dryly sarcastic.

"I didn't plan on accepting the promotion, but circumstances forced my hand," Ed replied, his tone equally dry. "Thanks anyway. Oh and there's definitely a betting pool. Al and I are in on it," he added with a shit-eating grin.

"Of course you are," Evans muttered at the same time Rossi did. Rossi's voice seemed to spark something with Ed.

"Oh, right! Doc, this is Lieutenant Maria Ross – I think you would remember her since she was guarding me last year, and she volunteered to help guard Al for a week or so right after he was admitted – and this is David Rossi. He's a specialised consultant working in tandem with my team and Mustang's lawyer on this investigation." Evans chose to nod at them rather than shake their hands, since his were currently occupied.

"Pleasure. You have half an hour unless Lieutenant General Armstrong asks you leave before that time is up," Evans told them, fixing them with a glare that promised retribution if they should try and push the limit or ignore Armstrong asking them to leave – not that Ed would ever ignore an order from the general. Not if he wanted to keep all his remaining limbs, that is.

"Got it, Doc," Ed promised solemnly.

Evans nodded once before rapping on the door. They clearly heard someone permit him entrance, but the doctor didn't let them in right away. "General Armstrong, Lieutenant Colonel Elric and two of his co-workers are here to talk with you. May I let them in?" he asked. Armstrong must have nodded or given some other sign, because Evans moved aside a moment later. "Half an hour," he reminded them as they walked through the door, leaving them alone with an irritated-looking Lieutenant General Olivier Mira Armstrong.

A/N - Here's chapter 9! I hope you guys all enjoy it! Many thanks to my wonderful beta, PhoenixQueen, for her amazing hard work on this chapter. As always, many thanks as well to every single person who had commented and reviewed my story so far. Reviews help the author so much so I would absolutely love to keep reading them so keep 'em coming! I don't know if I mentioned in my last A/N but I've now finished writing this story and it's gonna be 32 chapters long so my beta has her work cut out for her XD I hope you all enjoy this chapter though and I'll see you next week!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Lieutenant General Olivier Armstrong was watching them closely as they entered the room, the doctor closing the door behind Ross as soon as she had crossed over the threshold. The general's frosty blue eyes stood out strikingly against the white walls, bed linens, and the white bandage wrapped carefully around her head wound. Her wrist was in a plain white cast and Ed's keen eyes were able to pick up the slight bulge of the bandages under her hospital-issued shirt, stabilising her broken and bruised ribs. Despite her obvious injuries, she was sitting up in bed, alert as always, and Ed was positive that she could still single-handedly kick all three of their asses without breaking a sweat.

"Good afternoon, Lieutenant General Armstrong," Ed said, offering a perfect military salute without any prompting, even as Lieutenant Ross did the same. Rossi seemed a little shocked at that, based on what Ed could see from the corner of his eye, since most of his attention was focused on the general. After all, Grumman was the only person any of the members of the BAU had ever seen him salute. Armstrong dismissed his salute after making him hold it for a moment. "You might already know First Lieutenant Maria Ross, since she's under Major Armstrong's command, but this is David Rossi. He's part of a group of consultants who are assisting Brigadier General Mustang's lawyer with this investigation. Their specialty is getting into the minds of serial killers, mass murderers, kidnappers, and other criminals and helping local police departments narrow their suspect pool by giving them a psychological profile to work with," Ed explained, keeping his voice as respectful as he possibly could.

Armstrong scrutinised Rossi for a moment. "He's not Amestrian. Where did you find these consultants?" she asked brusquely.

"How much has Major Armstrong told you about when General Mustang and I disappeared for about a week around a month and a half after the Promised Day, or the classified mission the Führer sent us on a couple of months after that?" Edward asked, avoiding the question for a moment. The look the general gave him in response told him that he _would_ be answering the question shortly.

"He didn't tell me anything more than I heard from Führer Grumman. My brother may be a soft-hearted fool, but he is loyal, I'll give him that. Your missions were classified, so he didn't say anything to anyone, including me," she replied, her voice a little miffed.

"Okay, well, this is kind of complicated to explain, but a month and a half after the Promised Day, Mustang and I were kidnapped by Truth." Ed didn't bother reminding her who Truth was since she knew what he and Al had done. "Part of my deal to get Alphonse back was that I owed Truth a favour, and it collected. A State Alchemist named Thomas Harding, the Boiling Alchemist, went rogue and disappeared. Mustang was tasked to find him when Truth took us."

"Why?" Armstrong asked brusquely.

"Harding had somehow obtained access to three Philosopher's Stones, and he used them to bypass Truth's Gate and cross over into another dimension – an alternate world, if you prefer. Truth called in the favour I owed it and wanted me to find Harding and bring him back to Amestris. Since General Andrews had ordered Mustang to find Harding, Mustang agreed to go with me to find Harding and bring him back. Truth sent us through the Gate to the same dimension Harding had travelled to with the Stones. While we were there, we met Rossi and the rest of his team and they helped us take Harding out since he was killing people who were their dimension's reflections of State Alchemists here in Amestris. We couldn't bring Harding back because the Stone he was using rebounded on him and the only way to stop him after that happened was to eliminate him." Ed kept his feelings about Harding's death suppressed with an effort. He wasn't going to appear weak in front of General Armstrong.

"I see," Armstrong replied after a moment's consideration. "But what does that have to do with the classified mission from Grumman?"

"Two and a half months after we got back, Harding's adopted brother Moore managed to lure me into a trap that sent me back to the same dimension. Mustang fell for the same trap a few hours later and he and Moore ended up there as well. Mustang and I joined up with Rossi and his team again, along with another team to find Moore and bring him back here."

Ed paused for breath, watching Armstrong closely to try to judge her reaction to his story before he continued. "The morning after you were attacked, Truth kidnapped Rossi and his team and sent them here to 'right a wrong', which we assume means helping to prove that Mustang is innocent of the crimes he's been accused of. Truth said that it would cost it less energy to send them here than it would to correct the course of events if they continued to play out the way they seemed to be heading," he finished the shortest retelling he'd ever given of those two trips. Of course, he still hadn't mentioned his third dimensional hop, but since that had nothing to do with Rossi or the rest of the BAU, he didn't feel inclined to include an explanation of that this time. It was too complicated to get into at the moment.

Rossi watched as General Armstrong considered Edward for a moment before turning her full attention towards him for the first time since they'd entered the room. "I've already given my statement to Brookes. I haven't recalled anything else, useful or not, so what is the point of your visit?" She seemed a little annoyed at the fact that her memory wasn't working with her. In all honestly, he was more surprised by the fact that she seemed to believe Edward so easily.

"General Armstrong, there is a technique that my team has used on multiple witnesses that has helped them recall tiny details that the brain dismissed as unimportant during the moment of the crime or the attack," Rossi replied. "It's a technique called a cognitive interview. What I would like to do, with your permission of course, is walk you through this technique to see if you're able to remember anything further."

"What would this entail on my part?" Armstrong asked with a touch of curiosity in her voice.

"The way it works is that I would have you close your eyes and walk me through every single moment of your attack. I'll be asking you questions at certain points to see if the questions jolt something loose, so to speak. We wouldn't be focusing solely on the physical attack, but also on what you heard, smelled, and felt. Any of these details could help us find the person who attacked you and murdered the other five victims."

"And if what I recall points to Mustang?" Armstrong asked. Edward shifted his weight where he stood, but Rossi didn't hesitate with his answer.

"Then it will be handed over to Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and Mustang's defense lawyer. My team's job is to find out who is behind these attacks, even if those facts point to someone whom we consider to be a friend," Rossi told her, honesty all over his face. Armstrong held his gaze for a few moments before nodding her head once.

"Very well. I'll be expecting a report about every detail of your interdimensional travels at a later date, Elric." She stabbed a finger at Ed who paled slightly like she was aiming a gun at him.

"Yes, General Armstrong," the blond nodded immediately.

"Good. As for you," she looked back at Rossi, "let's get started. We don't have all day and my family will be here in an hour. I'd like some time to prepare myself for that visit so I don't kill them." Rossi nodded at her.

"Of course," he replied before gesturing to the seat next to her bed. "Would it be alright if I sit here?" he asked and Armstrong gave a consenting tilt of her head. He took the seat immediately, not wanting to waste any time as he pulled his notepad and pen out of the inner breast pocket of his jacket. "Thank you. Now, the first thing I need you to do is to close your eyes and think back to the night when you were attacked." Armstrong glared a warning at the three of them before doing as he had requested of her. After giving her a moment to get into the right mindset, he continued. "Now, General Armstrong, I would like you to think back to the moment you left the restaurant you were dining at with your family. What were you thinking as you exited the restaurant?"

"I was irritated with my family," she replied. "I can't handle being subjected to them for a long period of time, and the dinner had grated on my nerves more than it should have. My brother was intent on discussing Mustang's connections to the cases and the suspicion it was causing amid the soldiers here in Central. My parents spent the evening trying to convince me to give up my position as commander of Briggs so I could be stationed close to Central. We spent the evening arguing and I was on my last nerve when I realised I needed to leave if I was going to be on time for the meeting that Führer Grumman had requested that morning."

"You chose to walk to Central Command, correct? Why didn't you requisition a car and driver to take you there to make sure you would arrive on time?" Rossi asked.

"I wanted to walk off my irritation with my family so that I could focus on whatever it was that the Führer wanted to discuss with me. We weren't dining very far from Central Command – less than a quarter of a mile, so it wouldn't have taken me very long to get there," Armstrong replied, some of the remembered irritation coming through in her tone of voice.

"General I would like you to stop and look around as you exit the restaurant," Rossi said. "What do you see? Are the streets crowded, or almost deserted? Does anything stand out as unusual for Central at that time of night? Don't force any memories, just let them come and describe what you're seeing for me."

Her brow furrowed for a moment before she replied. "There are some cars passing on the street ahead of me and some civilians walking on both sides of the street. I can see Central Command in the distance to my left. It's just a normal street on a normal night."

"Is there anyone in particular who catches your attention? Maybe someone who looks relieved or excited to see you walking on the sidewalk? Anyone who seems to be paying too much attention to you?"

She twitched and started to open her eyes, but Rossi hastened to stop her. "Keep your eyes closed, General. Stay with the memory, but don't force it. If you can't remember or didn't notice anything, that's fine. Our minds are very adept at noticing small details, but not everything we see ends up in our long-term memory. What are you seeing on the faces of the people walking past you?"

"Wariness and caution. I believe my irritation must have been very visible as most of the people I passed gave me a wide berth, so I schooled my expression and started walking down the street towards Central Command."

Edward was impressed with the way Rossi was handling this interview with Armstrong, and was taking mental notes about this interview technique. They'd only barely started and he was already seeing the value in it. When General Armstrong mentioned the other pedestrians on the streets giving her a wide berth – well, Ed didn't blame those citizens for giving her room.

"Did you have the sense at any time during your walk that you were deliberately being followed?" Rossi continued.

"No. There was nothing like that," Armstrong replied. If Rossi was disappointed, he didn't voice it or show it.

"You're approaching the alley now, correct?" Armstrong nodded, her lips twisting into a faint scowl. "What is happening around you?"

"The streets are mostly empty. The other pedestrians that I saw turned off before we reached the alley, and there aren't any cars on the street," Armstrong replied. "I got a few meters from the mouth of the alley when I heard a shuffling sound, like someone had gone into the alley. I stopped for a moment to listen."

"So you were aware that someone was in the alley before you entered it?" Rossi asked.

Armstrong nodded. "I thought that it might be someone looking for an unsuspecting victim to mug. I hoped momentarily that it was someone who wanted to try and mug me, since I wanted to vent my frustrations over the dinner on someone and a mugger seemed like a good person to teach a lesson to."

"Did you see or hear anything else before you approached any closer?" Rossi pressed gently.

"There were some noises coming from the store I was walking past. Considering the time, I presume they were closing up for the day and preparing for the next morning," Armstrong divulged.

"Okay, so what happened next?" Rossi continued, his pen scratching gently against the paper of his notepad. Ed and Maria hadn't moved a muscle, not wanting to say or do anything that might break Armstrong's concentration.

"I continued walking, intending to go past the alley rather than enter it. If whoever was in there intended to attack me, I was going to surprise them by being ready for it, but I wasn't going to initiate the confrontation. I made it a couple of steps in front of the alley's mouth when I heard something else. I stopped and listened again, straining my hearing to try to make it out. It was very faint, but it was someone asking for help. I'll admit that I hesitated to go in, since I had already considered the possibility that it could be a trap, and I didn't want to be late for my meeting with the Führer."

"What changed your mind and made you decide to enter the alley?" Rossi asked gently. Armstrong shrugged, seemingly unaffected by her broken rib.

"I decided not to take the risk that someone could have been attacked and was lying there, hurt and unable to move, especially considering what Alex had told me about the recent string of attacks. I thought it was possible that the suspect had heard me coming and the shuffling sound I heard before was the suspect fleeing the scene. I didn't need the inconvenience of guilt on my conscious if I later discovered that a civilian was killed because I didn't make sure."

Her tone almost dared Rossi to comment on her morals, but he didn't say anything in response to this, just continued making notes in his pad. "And after you decided to check on the voice?"

"I entered the alleyway, making sure that I was moving quietly so that if it was a trap I wouldn't give away my presence," Armstrong replied.

"What did the alley smell like?" Rossi interjected suddenly, and Armstrong frowned in confusion. Ed was confused too, and a quick glance at Ross showed she was feeling the same. How would knowing what the general had smelled help them prove Mustang's innocence?

"It smelled disgusting; like rotting food and rubbish, stale beer, cigarettes, urine, and old vomit. I think I smelled a cheap perfume or cologne as well, but the stench was almost overpowering."

"Could you smell blood?" Rossi asked and Armstrong froze for a moment.

"No," she said slowly. "No, I couldn't." Rossi wrote her answer down before she continued. "There were two old dumpsters along the wall to my right. As I passed the first one, I could hear the voice more clearly, but I noticed something odd about it and it made me pause next to the second one. The voice was repeating the same two phrases over and over again, but there weren't any differences in the tone, breathing, or spaces between the phrases. That's when I realised that it was a recording and refocused my attention on my surroundings."

"You said in your statement to Lieutenant Colonel Brookes that the voice was either a woman's or a child's. Can you remember any more clearly which it was?" Rossi inquired and Armstrong's brow furrowed again.

"It was a woman – high pitched, but not painfully so," she replied slowly after a moment. "The voice was repeating the same two phrases, 'Help me' and 'Please, someone, help me' over and over again. There wasn't any indication of pain or fear in the tone of the voice, and no hitching in the breathing as if the person was sobbing."

"Did you hear anything else that made you aware that someone else was there?"

"I heard a gasp, a surprised one," she said after a moment. "Like someone had been lying in wait for me but hadn't expected me to stop where I did." She paused again, before her expression cleared somewhat. "I think I heard light, quick footsteps coming from behind me and to my right. I remember feeling annoyed at myself for falling for the trap even though I was aware it could've been one." Armstrong still sounded annoyed her herself.

"You mentioned two dumpsters to your right," Rossi said. "Can you remember how wide the alleyway was? Were the dumpsters right next to each other?"

"The alley was narrow because of the dumpsters – they took up a lot of space," the general said with confidence. "There was a low protruding wall between the two dumpsters that kept them from actually touching, and if necessary you could move one dumpster around the other with just barely enough space for someone to walk in between them. Why?" Her tone was slightly demanding.

"You said you heard light, quick footsteps. If someone moved past you that quietly and quickly, I would imagine that they've either had stealth training – which I feel is unlikely since you stated that the person gasped when you stopped, General, or they're a lightly built person," Rossi explained. "The statement you gave says that you dodged the first attack. How did you know that the person had moved to attack and wasn't just coming up because they'd heard the recording as well?"

"I could feel them behind me. I've spent years defending Fort Briggs from the forces of Drachma and fighting against my own rivals and enemies. I _know_ when someone with malicious intent is behind me," she said defensively. "I heard my attacker swing the metal rod at me and I could feel the air movement, so I ducked to miss the blow. I then, unfortunately, went to draw my sword as I turned around. I had forgotten in the heat of the moment that I had agreed to my mother's request to leave my weapon at the family manor while we dined. That mistake undoubtedly cost me the fight."

Armstrong's lips twisted into an angry snarl. "After I tried for my sword and realised I didn't have it, I threw a punch, but my attacker had already moved. He swung again and managed to hit me in the temple, which caused my vision to become blurry. I went down."

"Did you get any sort of look at your attacker in the moments before the weapon connected with your head and your vision became unreliable?" Rossi asked.

"A glimpse of a military uniform," Armstrong said with absolute certainty. "My attacker was wearing the pants, rather than a skirt, so I wasn't able to tell definitively if my attacker was male or female. It was dark in the alley, and I couldn't make out any details of their face, or even the rank insignia on the shoulders of the jacket."

"Now, when you swung for your attacker – with your training – I imagine you would have taken that brief glimpse of your attacker and aimed for the head or face, correct?" The general nodded, her eyes still closed. "Did you aim for someone taller, shorter, or around your height?"

Edward was impressed. He wouldn't have thought about that sort of thing, and judging from the minute changes in Armstrong's expression, she hadn't either. She was quiet for a moment as she replayed the events in her mind before she responded, somewhat tentatively. "I believe I aimed for someone roughly the same height as myself, maybe slightly shorter."

Ed swore softly, but it was enough to gain Rossi's attention. "Do you want to share something, Edward?"

"Lieutenant General Armstrong and Mustang are roughly the same height," Ed said. "I don't think there's more than an inch or so difference between them, if that much."

Rossi nodded at the information and then turned back to General Armstrong. "General, when you fell to the ground, what did you feel beneath you when your body hit the ground? Did you land on the pavement, or was there anything beneath you?"

"I felt the pavers of the alley floor," she replied. "They were rough, cold, and filthy. I could feel the dirt and grit dig into my hands when I tried to get up again. I think there was something like newspaper or cardboard under my feet because it slid when I tried to get up just before I was knocked down again by a blow to my ribs. I'm not sure if he hit me with the pipe again or with a kick, but that's when I sustained my broken rib." She winced almost imperceptibly as her rib seemed to choose that moment to flare in pain. "When I looked up again, I could see his feet just in front of me."

"Were they standard military boots, more like Edward's, or something else entirely?" Rossi queried.

"They were the standard military boots issued to every soldier," the general replied firmly. "Even though my vision was blurry, I've been in the military for long enough that I can recognise military-issued boots when I see them."

"Okay. What happened after the blow to your ribs?"

"I managed to raise my head enough to see white gloves, and then I heard a strange scratching sound. I thought it was a rat in the alley but it stopped after a few moments," Armstrong said before frowning in thought. Her expression made Rossi sit up a little straighter.

"Whatever it is that you're trying to remember, don't chase it. Let it come to you," he advised. The thoughtful frown on Armstrong's face faded as she heeded his advice. "What happened after you heard the scratching?"

"I tried to regain my feet once more. I managed to get to my knees because," she paused for a moment, her expression pinched, before her face relaxed, "because my attacker moved a couple of steps backwards. My second attempt to get to my feet startled him and he stumbled back, like a weak-stomached coward," she added with a sneer. "I started to get up but he struck me across the back and I went down again. This time I managed to catch myself on my hands before I fell completely, but he kicked my wrists out from underneath me and I hit the ground again. My chin clipped the pavers and I remember tasting blood, so I'm certain I bit my tongue or cheek at that moment."

"What could you smell?" Rossi asked. "What could you hear?"

"I could smell the dirt and the muck of the alley. I could smell the blood from my wounds, and I could smell that same perfume or cologne again," she replied instantly. "I could hear my own heartbeat. I could feel the vibrations from a car driving past the alley and I could hear the distant sound of someone moving in the building next to us. I could also hear the sound of heavy breathing from my attacker. It sounded…muffled, somehow, like something was obstructing his mouth or he was trying to control his breathing by keeping his mouth shut. I heard the scratching noise again," she added, almost as an afterthought.

"Do you remember what direction the scratching noise was coming from?" Rossi asked and Armstrong paused before she answered, thinking about the question and trying to remember.

"From my attacker. Or near where he was standing at the time, anyway," she replied after a moment's thought.

"Okay, so what happened next?" Rossi pressed gently.

"I heard the scratching and I tried to look my attacker in the face. I was determined to survive and be able to identify him. Unfortunately, my head wound was bleeding so much that the blood was obscuring my vision even more, and we were far enough down the alley that the light from the street wasn't enough to make my attacker's face visible. I heard the scratching noise a third time and I saw sparks coming from the white gloves, but then a door inside the building next to us slammed shut. That spooked my attacker enough that he stopped whatever he was attempting to do and sparks and the noise ceased as well. Another door opened up closer to us and my attacker fled, the lily-livered bastard. A few moments later, the outer door behind me opened and I was found, I presume by one of the workers," Armstrong concluded.

"Please keep your eyes closed for the moment, General Armstrong," Rossi requested quickly when it looked like she was about to open them. "I need you to stay with the memories, because I have a few more questions." Armstrong let out an annoyed sigh, but did as she was asked. "I want you to think back to every time you heard the scratching noise. What else happened when you heard it?"

"I saw sparks coming from the gloves of my attacker."

"Nothing else? Just the sparks whenever you heard the scratching?" Armstrong nodded in confirmation to the question. "In your statement you said your attack was wearing white gloves, correct?"

"Correct," Armstrong said, although she paused for a moment and Rossi looked at her alertly.

"What is it, General?"

"It's odd that my attacker was wearing gloves on such a warm night. Most officers forego wearing the gloves unless they are taking part in a formal ceremony or the weather requires it," she said slowly. "There are only a few officers I can think of who wear gloves regardless of the weather – Lieutenant Colonel Elric, Mustang, myself, and a few of my officers at Briggs. In the case of my officers and me, the weather is unpredictable enough up north that it is foolish to not wear them or at least carry a pair with you wherever you are, but here in Central they aren't as necessary."

"She's not wrong," Edward commented softly. "I wear them because of my automail, and Mustang wears his gloves in order to use his alchemy, but his have his transmutation array stitched in red on the backs of them. He wears plain gloves too, and people are so used to seeing him with them on that I don't think anyone would think twice about the fact that he wears them almost constantly."

"Did you see the red stitching on the back of the gloves?" Rossi asked Armstrong. She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.

"I can't be sure. My vision was so blurry and with the blood running into my eyes I don't know if I would have noticed red stitching or not," she admitted.

"That's fine, General," Rossi assured her as he flipped back through his notes. "Now, when you were talking about your second attempt to regain your feet there was something that sparked a thought that you were trying to grab, but I told you to let it go. Did you manage to think of it?"

"Yes, I think so," Armstrong huffed. "I remember seeing the sparks for the first time and the white gloves and assuming that it was Mustang attacking me, but when my attacker stumbled back the second time I tried to regain my feet, the action made me rethink my attacker's identity. I may not like Mustang in the slightest, but even I know that he would never kick someone when they were down, nor would he be surprised enough to stumble back just because I tried to regain my feet."

"Alright," Rossi made a note before flipping a couple of pages back. "Now, when you said you saw the uniform your attacker was wearing, can you remember seeing anything on it that would identify who it belonged to? Medals, maybe? Or maybe the uniform wasn't complete or the dress shirt was the wrong colour?"

"No, the uniform looked complete. My attacker was wearing the standard white dress shirt. No medals that I saw." She hesitated for a moment and the slightest of furrows appeared between her brows as she tried to chase the thought. "But now that I think of it, I think there may have been a button missing on the jacket. I remember the jacket was open slightly more than it should have been by military protocol."

Rossi made a final note before scanning back through his notepad quickly, looking for anything else that he might have overlooked. After a moment he nodded. "Thank you, General Armstrong. I believe that we have finished with the cognitive interview." The moment he finished saying 'thank you', Armstrong opened her eyes and fixed her icy gaze on Rossi.

"What did you learn from what I said?" Armstrong asked, shifting slightly so she was more comfortable on the bed. Ed could feel the pang of the sympathy aches for her from personal experience with those beds.

"Your attacker may be smaller than we had initially thought, given the locations of the previous victims' wounds and the size and strength of the victims themselves," Rossi said thoughtfully. "Based on your description, he may be either the same height or slightly shorter than you are, and likely is either not physically fit or hasn't been maintaining his skills in hand-to-hand combat for some time, since he was winded so easily and had difficulty in calming his breathing after he knocked you down. It's possible that he was wearing some sort of scent, like cologne, but it wasn't strong enough to be more predominant amongst the other smells in the alley. That tells me that the unsub – the attacker – either forgot that he was wearing it, or he hadn't intended for you to survive the attack. Because you heard a scratching noise whenever he tried to ignite the flame, but he made no effort to use an accelerant on you, which is our current theory, either there was no accelerant used on the other victims, or your resistance threw him off enough that he forgot to use it."

"This might sound crazy," Ed ventured after a moment, causing Rossi and Armstrong to look over at him, "but what if this killer _wasn't_ trying to kill General Armstrong?"

"How so?" Rossi asked, curiously. General Armstrong's eyes narrowed at Edward, clearly reminding him that she was sitting in a hospital bed at that moment. Edward swallowed, but continued his thought.

"Well, you said that the killer was possibly wearing cologne and either forgot that it was on or didn't intend for General Armstrong to survive, but then he forgets to use an accelerant, which would be the easiest way to ensure that the General's body burned, right?" Rossi nodded in agreement. "I find it hard to believe that he would forget something so critical just because she fought back. General Armstrong said that he was wearing a military uniform – everyone assigned to Central Command has to know that not only is Mustang a suspect, but that his team and I would do everything in our power to prove he's innocent. Not only that but it's not exactly a secret that Mustang and General Armstrong don't like each other and at best could be considered reluctant allies. What if the killer deliberately left the General alive, relying on her dislike for Mustang and her assumption the attacker _was_ using flame alchemy, so that she could be an eyewitness who would identify Mustang as the one who attacked her to sort of eliminate any doubt that he was the one behind it?"

"It's an interesting theory, and one we should definitely explore," Rossi agreed. "Most serial killers don't want to leave a witness behind, but if Morgan is right and this is a revenge scenario, this killer wouldn't be your typical serial killer. He would be aiming to create chaos in Mustang's life and leaving a living witness behind who could point a finger at Mustang would only further his plan."

"Did you learn anything else?" General Armstrong asked.

"The uniform worn by your attacker was standard military issue, but possibly missing a button. You never got close enough to your attacker to land a blow, so the button could have been ripped off during one of the earlier attacks. We'll have to keep an eye out for it when we go to visit the crime scenes again. You also saw no medals on the uniform which could mean that either your attacker hasn't earned any, or he was smart enough to take them off so you couldn't identify him by the medals. Considering what else we know – the lack of training or physical fitness, the possible cologne, and Edward's theory that he left you alive deliberately, I have a feeling that this killer hasn't been awarded any recognition or medals at all."

Edward was impressed with the amount of information and deductions that Rossi had managed to gather just by asking a few probing questions. It was definitely a trick that he would have to keep in mind for future missions. If the opportunity presented itself before the BAU team went back home, he would ask Rossi to explain how he knew what sorts of questions to ask.

"Then I guess this wasn't a complete waste of everyone's time," Armstrong said, sounding indifferent, but Ed knew that she had to have seen the same benefits to this kind of questioning, especially given what she had told him back at Briggs about how no knowledge or information was ever wasted.

"Well, I am glad for your assistance, General. I do have some other questions for you, if you would be willing to answer them?" Rossi asked.

"I may as well. It will waste the time I have to wait for my family to arrive and it will give me something else to think about," she said dismissively.

"Thank you," Rossi nodded at her. "You mentioned that you didn't like Mustang, and when we spoke to him yesterday he admitted that there is a history of dislike between the two of you. May I ask what the reason for that dislike is?"

Armstrong's eyes flicked to Ed and the icy glare told him exactly what he could expect from her if he repeated what she was about to say to anyone else. She must have seen his silent oath to never breathe a word, because her gaze flicked back to Rossi. "The first time Mustang and I were introduced, he immediately began to flirt with me, attempting to charm me into thinking of him as a friend and an ally. When he learned who I was, his flirting became his standard way of greeting me whenever we had the misfortune to be in the same room together, because he realised how much it irritated me. I already had a low opinion of him due to his status as an alchemist, and he has yet to change his behaviour in any way that would cause me to revise my opinion of him."

"I take it from what you've said that you aren't fond of alchemists, and especially State Alchemists?" Rossi asked carefully.

"I've always had a low opinion of them as a rule. Their philosophy of equivalent exchange is a flawed one as far as I'm concerned. Such a view of the world can lead to easy handouts and unnecessary compromise as well as being evidence that alchemists are weak-willed and soft-hearted. In a nation like Amestris, and especially within the military, those traits will get you killed."

Ed could feel the look Lieutenant Ross was giving him, but he didn't say anything or react in any way to the general's almost-insult. Instead he kept his eyes locked on Armstrong as her eyes left Rossi and moved back to study him. "Of course, my views on alchemists began to change a few months before the Promised Day when I learned what real equivalent exchange looks like," she continued nonchalantly, although her gaze bored into his own, as if daring him to make a sarcastic or snide remark. Ed was shocked by her words, but he was quick to wipe the expression off his face, not wanting to give her any ammunition to use against him in the future.

"As far as Mustang himself is concerned, I don't believe that he is entitled to the rank he currently holds, despite his service record in Ishval and on the Promised Day. He hasn't earned his promotions in the honorable way, by rising through the ranks the way non-alchemists must. Instead he completed his academy training and applied to become a State Alchemist and was immediately jumped up to the rank of major," Armstrong finished.

"The two of you fought as allies on the Promised Day, correct?" Rossi asked. When she nodded wordlessly, he pressed gently. "Now that you've served in combat beside General Mustang, has your opinion on him changed at all?"

"I still think he's a soft-hearted, flirtatious, egotistical womanizer," Armstrong said flatly. Ed struggled to keep a straight face, even though he was gleefully taking mental notes to use against Mustang the next time his commanding officer irritated him. "However, his efforts at preparing the resistance effort and then in leading the attack on the Promised Day did show me that he is somewhat respectable. He made a concentrated effort to avoid civilian causalities whenever he could; but he was soft-hearted enough to extend that same effort to the soldiers who were fighting alongside the forces of the corrupt high command and the homunculi. Such a weakness could have cost him his entire team, had the corrupt generals been more organised and the Central forces better trained. His ideas for the military and the future of Amestris aren't the worst plans I've ever heard and they could potentially benefit us in the long run, if he could find and keep the right allies. I still don't like him as a person, but I do respect him as a soldier, at least somewhat."

"What is your opinion on Mustang being the only suspect in these murders and your own attack?" Rossi asked.

"I think that, if he is behind the attacks, he's completely lost his mind," Armstrong said frankly. "If he is being framed, then someone is doing a very good job of it. I almost wish that I could've had the opportunity to meet that person before he turned into a murderer. I believe he would've made a good Fort Briggs soldier. We prefer that kind of ruthlessness out there," she added with a sharp grin. Personally, Ed was very glad that she wouldn't get that opportunity since he and the team would be the first ones to get their hands on the person behind the frame job.

"Okay," Rossi said with a nod before he closed his notepad and tucked it back into the inner pocket of his jacket. "Thank you for your time Lieutenant General Armstrong. I appreciate your willingness to answer my questions." He held out his hand for her to shake, making sure she wouldn't have to use her injured one to do so.

"As I said, despite what little respect I have for Mustang as a soldier, I don't like him, but that doesn't mean I wish to see him jailed for someone else's crimes, especially when the crimes in question are these murders and my own attack. Amestrian justice is both swift and complete, so it is good to hear that Führer Grumman is allowing a more intensive investigation than Mustang would have received under Bradley's rule. I wish to see justice served for myself and the other victims, but I would not want to see an innocent man facing a firing squad for crimes he didn't commit," Armstrong stated firmly.

"We still appreciate your willingness to help us make sure the right person is apprehended and punished for these crimes, not just the most convenient or the one that those in power seek to overthrow," Rossi said before he moved to join Edward and Ross near the door.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric," Armstrong's tone had Ed freezing in place, despite the fact that he knew he hadn't done anything to warrant her wrath. "I'm aware that Doctor Evans has put you on a time limit for today and that time limit has very nearly expired." Ed glanced at the wall clock and saw that Doctor Evans would be coming by any minute to kick them out of Armstrong's room. "However, this does not mean you are off the hook for telling me everything about your travels. I expect a full report the moment you've solved this case. Am I understood?" she barked the last question, her blue eyes promising all sorts of punishments should he fail to keep his word.

"I will, I promise," Ed swore, his voice a little shaky with how quickly he said it. Armstrong nodded at him to show she'd heard and expected him to keep his promise. "Thank you very much Lieutenant General Armstrong. I hope your recovery goes well," Ed added as he saluted her. She was quicker to let him out of this one than she had been with the first one at the beginning of their visit. Ross offered her own salute as well and was waved out of it before Ed all but shoved the other two out of the room without making it look like they were fleeing from the general's presence. He didn't even want to imagine what she would do to him the next time they met if she took their rapid departure as an insult.

* * *

Doctor Evans had been approaching the room to remove the three of them when they exited out into the hallway, causing him to stop abruptly before they ran into him. "At least the three of you can keep to a deadline," he remarked flatly.

"Thanks for letting us see her, Doctor Evans. Have a good afternoon," Ed said, offering the man a cocky, friendly grin.

"You as well, Lieutenant Colonel Elric. I would like to say how refreshing it is to see you in this hospital without any injuries of your own," the doctor added. "Have a good afternoon Lieutenant Ross, Mr. Rossi." With that, Evans turned around and headed back to his next task. Ed let out a massive sigh of relief as soon as the doctor was out of earshot.

"Thank Truth that General Armstrong was in a good mood today," Ed muttered as they headed towards the main entrance. "I don't even want to imagine what that interview would have been like if she'd already been visited by her family today." Even Ross couldn't suppress her shudder at that thought, considering that she worked directly under Major Armstrong and knew exactly what her commander was like.

"Is she truly that scary?" Rossi asked and Ed gave him a bewildered look.

"You saw Major Armstrong this – oh, wait, no you didn't. You were with Hotch and Prentiss when he stopped by the office earlier. Consider yourself lucky," Ed replied. "Major Armstrong is her younger brother and a State Alchemist and he has a disturbing habit of taking off his shirt to show off his muscles any time he gets the least bit emotional." Ross was nodding in fervent agreement with Ed's description of her commanding officer. "As far as General Armstrong is concerned, you've never seen her up against an enemy or confronted by someone she doesn't respect at least a little. I mentioned that there's a reason that people call her the Ice Queen, right?" Rossi nodded in remembrance. "It's not just because Fort Briggs is in the far north, after all. If you end up on her bad side, you'll be lucky if she doesn't kill you outright. Remind me to tell you later about her fights with the homunculous named Sloth."

They entered the main lobby of the hospital and Edward stopped in his tracks as he headed for the phone bank to call for a military car when a familiar face caught his notice. "Captain Hawkeye?"

Hawkeye turned to face them when she heard her name and made a beeline straight for them. "Lieutenant Colonel Elric, sir," she said, snapping a salute that Ed waved her out of quickly. It was just wrong to see the captain saluting him, even if she was just trying to maintain an air of professionalism. "Agent Hotchner has come up with a plan for most of his team and yours for the remainder of the day. Alphonse is waiting outside if you wish to accompany me to the car so that you can hear the plan?" she said politely, subtly letting Edward know that she hadn't left the office without a teammate.

"Okay," Ed said simply as they followed the captain outside towards the street. Sure enough, Alphonse was leaning against one of the two military cars, talking quietly with Sergeant Browning while they waited for Hawkeye to return. The second car was driverless, and Ed assumed that Hawkeye had driven it herself. 'So, what's up?" Ed asked as they joined Alphonse, Ed reaching out to ruffle his brother's hair and earning himself a glare and a light punch to his left arm.

"Agent Hotchner believes that the best course of action would be for me to bring Agent Rossi and Lieutenant Ross to the base of operations for General Mustang's information network to interview them. At the same time, he would like for you and Alphonse to meet up with him, Agent Morgan, Agent Reid, and Lieutenant Colonel Brookes at the scene of General Armstrong's attack to see what they can find out from the scenes now that you've interviewed her further. I believe their plan is to also visit the scenes where Major General Andrews and Brigadier General Henley were killed as well, provided there's enough daylight left to do so." Hawkeye's tone was soft, and her brown eyes softened when Ed winced almost imperceptibly at the mention of General Andrews.

"Did you say that Lieutenant Colonel Brookes would be joining them?" Ross asked and Hawkeye nodded.

"Yes. Agent Jareau pointed out that he has been to all six scenes and might be able to point out anything he'd noticed that hadn't seemed significant enough to include in his reports. I contacted the lieutenant colonel's office and he told me he would be more than willing to join the group at the crime scenes."

"Miss Maria, remember that Brookes is on our side in this – he doesn't want to have to bring Mustang to trial," Ed pointed out quietly when Ross looked a little worried about Brookes joining them.

"Of course," Ross nodded.

"When are they meeting us there?" Ed asked, turning back to Hawkeye.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes said he could meet them at any time, so he offered to drive the agents over to the scene of General Armstrong's attack and Alphonse and I came to pick you up and explain the plan."

"Sounds good," Ed replied. "What are we waiting for? Have fun guys," he added with a wave as Hawkeye, Ross, and Rossi all headed for the empty car.

"You too, sir. Stay safe," Hawkeye said with a knowing look in her eyes that caused Edward to roll his own in response.

"We will, Captain," Al called and Ed was slightly hurt that she seemed more relaxed by Al's assurance that any that Ed had offered her in the past.

They watched as the other three loaded themselves into the car before Hawkeye pulled away from the curb and down the street. Once the car was out of sight, Edward and Al climbed into the back of the second car after checking that the Sergeant knew where they were actually going.

"How was your interview with Lieutenant General Armstrong, Brother?" Al asked, and Ed straightened up a little in reflex at the general's name.

"Actually, it was really enlightening. Rossi managed to get a bit more information about the attacker using that cognitive interview thing the agents mentioned. We need to tell the others that we have to keep an eye out for a button off of a standard military-issued jacket."

Al nodded in agreement. "How is the general?"

Ed gave him a Look. "She's still proving why she earned the Ice Queen nickname, but her injuries are healing up nicely and she's decided she needs to know everything about how I first met Rossi and the others, as well as my second mission with them."

Al snickered, but the look he gave Ed was pure sympathy. 'Right now, I am no longer upset that I didn't get to go with you," he said dryly, his eyes glinting with mirth. Ed rolled his eyes before lightly kicking Al on the shin with his left foot and earning a yelp in response. Sergeant Browning didn't comment on their behaviour, deciding it was simply better to keep his eyes on the road and leave the brothers alone to their mini-quarrel.

* * *

Hawkeye was a very proficient driver, capable of getting Rossi and Lieutenant Ross up to speed on everything that had happened in the hour that they had been interviewing General Armstrong, even while deftly dodging the mid-afternoon traffic with the same kind of agility Morgan could show in one of their standard SUVs. Despite the fact that Central's roads were far less crowded than any city of comparable size in America, Rossi was still impressed since these cars clearly didn't have power-steering or any of the advancements the SUVs did. The fact that Hawkeye could maneuver this car as easily as she did was credit to her skills.

Rossi had to admit that he wasn't entirely sure why Hotch wanted to go back over the three most recent scenes with Brookes, Morgan, Reid, and the Elrics, since without the technological advantages that their dimension had to offer, they wouldn't be likely to pick up any new evidence like DNA. The reports that Rossi had looked at so far indicated that Brookes' team had done a thorough sweep of the scene, carefully photographing everything that they had collected and documenting everything they'd found and done. "Captain, did Hotch give a reason why he wanted that specific group to go back over the crime scenes?"

"Agent Hotchner believes that there might still be evidence they could uncover, thanks to their immense experience in the field. Lieutenant Colonel Brookes is accompanying them because he is one of only a few select people who were at every crime scene and is the only person out of those few whom we would trust completely to tell us if something clicked for him by revisiting the scenes. He can also point out exactly where specific pieces of evidence were found to help the rest of your team visualize how the attack might have occurred. Edward and Alphonse are going as it will give them a chance to look for any signs of alchemy having been used at or near the crime scenes rather than rely solely on the photographs taken by Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' team. I didn't split the two of them up for two reasons, the first one being that the two of them work extremely well together. They'll be able to bounce ideas and theories off of each other much more quickly than if they work alone."

"And the second reason?" Rossi asked.

"The establishment we're going to is not one that I wish for either of them to be in, considering their ages," Hawkeye said dryly.

"If you don't mind me asking, Captain, but where _are_ we heading?" Ross asked.

Hawkeye didn't respond for a moment as she squeezed their car into a gap left between two others. "We're heading to the bar where General Mustang's information network is based, as I said before," she finally replied as she turned down a side street and parked a few doors down from their apparent destination – a three story, narrow building with a sign out front that read "Madame Christmas' Bar" in an elegant, scrolling text.

They got out of the car and Hawkeye secured the vehicle quickly and led them towards the building. "This is where General Mustang grew up before he became my father's apprentice. It's also where he first met my grandfather, Führer Grumman. Chris Mustang – or Madame Christmas, as she's better known – runs this establishment. She's General Mustang's aunt on his father's side. After his parents died, Madame Christmas raised him. The ladies who work for her, as you might undoubtedly guess, are the general's information network."

"It doesn't look open," Rossi remarked.

"Technically you're correct. Madame Christmas doesn't open for business for another couple of hours; however she and some of her ladies live here in the rooms on the second and third floors. I called ahead and they're aware that we're coming over." Hawkeye replied before rapping her knuckles smartly on the door. They didn't have to wait very long before a woman in her early twenties opened the door and ushered them inside.

"Hello, Riza. Who're your friends?" the woman asked, giving Rossi and Lieutenant Ross an assessing look with her hazel eyes.

"Hello, Roxy. This is Lieutenant Ross and Mr. Rossi, a specially trained consultant hired by Brigadier General Mustang's lawyer who is helping us to investigate with Führer Grumman's permission. He's here to ask Madame Christmas and any of her ladies who are willing to participate in the interview some questions regarding Brigadier General Mustang," Hawkeye told her with a voice that was both even and warm.

Roxy was pretty, with full lips, rosy cheeks, and long blonde curls a few shades darker than Hawkeye's spilling artfully over her shoulders and down her back. She was dressed in a way that was both provocative and tasteful at the same time. Her short black dress, which fell to just above her knees, hugged her in all the right places and revealed just the slightest amount of cleavage. She had on a small amount of make-up; just enough to accentuate her features rather than cover them. She wore a pair of comfortable flats, but Rossi had a feeling those would be exchanged for a pair of heels once the bar opened for the night.

Roxy looked slightly saddened when Hawkeye mentioned Mustang's name, but quickly covered it with a friendly smile that had a hint of flirtatiousness in it, but Rossi wasn't sure she'd meant to add that hint of flirting. He had a feeling that it had slipped through out of habit as a side effect of her job. "Madame Christmas did mention that you would be coming by, Riza. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to her." Hawkeye didn't hesitate nor did Rossi and Lieutenant Ross as they followed Roxy towards a door next to the bar counter.

Beyond the door was a hallway that led towards the back of the building, with other doors branching off that no doubt led to private lounge rooms where Madame Christmas' ladies could entertain their dates for the night. Roxy opened the first door to the right once they were in the hallway and led them in. Rossi looked around as he entered and saw that it was sparsely, though tastefully, decorated in a way that reminded him of pictures from Earth in the early 1900's. There were four other women in the room; three sitting on a love seat while the fourth – the oldest of the four – sat in a single chair with an almost regal air about her. Rossi assumed this woman was Madame Christmas and was proven correct a few moments later.

"Madame Christmas, thank you for agreeing to talk with us this afternoon," Riza said, bowing a little. "This is First Lieutenant Ross and Mr. David Rossi. Mr. Rossi would like to ask you some questions about Brigadier General Mustang, as he and his team are taking the lead in this investigation."

Madame Christmas looked at Rossi with a calculating gaze. "Why are they in charge of this investigation? It would make more sense for Amestrians to be in charge of clearing my nephew's name." Her tone was a little haughty, and her distrust was written all over her face and Rossi knew she wasn't even bothering to try to hide it.

Rossi allowed Hawkeye to take the lead in the conversation as he studied the four women in front of him, beginning with Madame Christmas herself. She was a large woman with long black hair tied back in a ponytail. She wore a semi-clingy purple dress with a long, black, fur-trimmed coat. Around her neck she wore two necklaces – a string of pearls and a large, chunky gold necklace that was almost in the style of a choker. Her nails were painted to match her dress and she wore small gold studs in her ears. Her lips had been painted a deep, vibrant red, and held a lit cigarette between them. Something about her stern face and eyes reminded Rossi of Mustang in a way, which made sense if this woman had been the one who had raised him. He would no doubt have learned many of his mannerisms from her.

The other three women on the loveseat had been joined by Roxy, who had perched herself on one of the armrests. One of the women had dark brown hair cut in a severe line to rest just above her shoulders, and bangs that were cut in an equally severe line just above her eyes. She wore red, a colour that suited her darker skin tone nicely, the cut of the dress longer than Roxy's, but not by much. The second woman had pale skin that stood out starkly against the dark brown fabric of the loveseat. Her hair was a light red, a little darker than strawberry blonde. Rossi thought the mint green colour of her dress suited her wonderfully, allowing her hair and eyes to be her most prominent features, rather than her outfit. The third woman was also blonde like Roxy, but her hair was a darker shade that was closer to that of Edward and Alphonse without actually having the pure golden tint that theirs did. She was, surprisingly enough, not dressed like the other three women, her clothing being far more conservative and casual and Rossi wondered if her job tonight was as a waitress rather than a potential date.

"So," Madame Christmas said, drawing Rossi's attention back towards her. "You and your team are somehow going to find the true murderer in less than a week when the military couldn't do so in the month and a half they've known there was a serial killer loose in the city?" Her voice was harsh, but Rossi suspected that was more from the fact that she was a smoker than it was because she had any sort of animosity directed towards him.

"My team and I work for a department of our government where our sole duty is to investigate cases like this one and uncover the identity of the criminal," Rossi explained. "Despite the excellent work and long hours that Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and his team have put into this case, they don't have the same training that my team and I have. They are, unfortunately, also inhibited by their commanding officers and the other members of the military high command. As we're a separate group with no ties of loyalty to the Amestrian military and answering only to Führer Grumman and under the lead of Lieutenant Colonel Elric and Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, we aren't inhibited the way the investigators initially were. That fact mixed in with our training gives us a better chance at finding out who is truly to blame for the deaths in Central."

Madame Christmas' assessing look reminded him of Hotch's whenever he was staring down a serial killer or Garcia's when you were hiding something. "So you'll be using your training to uncover the true culprit and clear Roy's name?" she asked, her gaze intently focused on Rossi's face.

"We'll be using our training to uncover the true culprit, yes," Rossi told her and he saw it in her eyes when she realised what he didn't say about clearing Mustang's name. To his mild surprise, she looked the slightest bit approving of his answer.

"What exactly are you planning on interrogating us about, and who do you require to stay here?" Christmas asked, waving a hand at the only other single chair in the room. Rossi sat, only after checking that neither Captain Hawkeye nor Lieutenant Ross wished to use it.

"Well, this isn't an interrogation in the sense that you may be thinking of," Rossi explained. "I understand from Führer Grumman and Captain Hawkeye that your employees double as Mustang's information network by passing along information they find out from their clients, overhear from patrons of your establishment, or rumours that they might hear on the streets. Is this correct?" Madame Christmas gave him a sharp nod. "I'd like to find out more about how that network operates and any rumours regarding the case that you or your ladies may have heard about. I'd also like to know your honest opinions on Mustang's character. As for who I'd like to speak with, well, I'd like to speak to yourself Madame, and any of your ladies –" he smiled at the other four women – "who personally know Mustang and wish to stay for the duration of our conversation."

"You'd allow any of the girls to leave if they wished to without any repercussions?" she asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

Rossi frowned in confusion. "Yes, of course. They aren't under arrest – even if I had the jurisdiction to arrest someone – and they aren't suspects. I merely want to ask questions to uncover any potential information that may help with my team's investigation. You, Madame, are Mustang's only remaining blood family, from what I understand, and your ladies could be considered co-workers at the very least, or close friends and family by choice at the most. You could all be brought in as character witnesses if General Mustang is court-martialed at the end of the week. Since my team and I are technically working for Mr. Lanco, part of the reason I'm here is to ascertain whether you could or should be called as character witnesses for the defense. The other part is so that my team has as much information about Mustang's character from those who know him personally so we can use it to prove whether or not he is the sort of person likely to commit these sorts of crimes."

Madame Christmas considered his words for a moment before turning to the four women. "Lacey." The unknown blonde met her gaze obediently. "Go start prepping the bar for tonight's opening." Lacey didn't look like she wanted to miss out on the conversation, but she nodded and left immediately. "Miranda," the red head shifted slightly, "Annie," the brunette looked over as well," Roxy, you may all stay if you wish. If not, go and help Lacey," she ordered. The three women all exchanged glances, but the only movement was made by Roxy, who shifted off the armrest and claimed the spot previously filled by Lacey. Madame Christmas' hard expression didn't shift, but Rossi thought he saw a slight glimmer of pride in her onyx eyes when none of the women left.

"For my notes, I need to ascertain your relationships with General Mustang. Madame, you're Mustang's aunt, correct?" Rossi asked as he removed his notepad and pen from his jacket pocket again and flipped to a blank page.

"Yes. Roy's father was my brother. When he and his wife died, I took Roy in and raised him until he decided he wanted to become an alchemist and was accepted by Berthold Hawkeye as a student."

"Ladies?" Rossi asked, looking at the other three women expectantly.

"We're part of Roy's information network, but I guess you could also call us his sisters, in a way," Miranda answered after a moment. The other two nodded in agreement.

"How so?" Rossi asked, mainly out of curiosity, but also taking notes as he had during the interview with General Armstrong.

"Most of us didn't come into Madame Christmas' employ because we came from happy, healthy homes," Annie said seriously. "I was fifteen when my mother kicked me out and I've worked here for almost five years. Madame found me on the streets the day after my mother threw me out and offered me a job as a barmaid. She offered me a room above the bar in exchange for her withholding a small percentage of my wages to cover food and board." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I met Roy a few months after I started working here and I was surprised to see that he treated all the ladies here with respect and open friendliness, considering that he was in full uniform at the time and I hadn't witnessed any of the other military men who frequented the bar acting in that way. There was friendly banter and laughter between him and the ladies who were working. It wasn't until after he'd left that I found out about his relation to Madame. Kathy, a lady who worked here until about two years ago, took me aside and explained everything that she thought I needed to know. When Roy returned to Central for a visit and dropped by a few months later, he introduced himself to me and told me to let Madame Christmas know if anyone gave me any problems so he could sort them out. After I moved from being a barmaid to a companion, he pulled me aside and explained his agreements with the other ladies before offering me the same bargain."

"It was pretty much the same story for me," Roxy told him, flashing a flirty smile. "Roy came up to me a couple of weeks after I moved from being a barmaid to being a companion and offered me the same deal to become part of his information network. He told me that he wanted to make changes to the military and to the government from the inside, but he needed help. He needed information on other officers in the military – not for blackmail, or anything illegal," she added hastily, "but so he could judge which way the politics were moving, help to find allies who would support him as he moved up the ranks, and do favours for other people that he could call in later if he needed them."

"It was the same for me as well," Miranda said with an elegant shrug. "All of the ladies here start out as barmaids for a few months or a year so that we can get to know the clients without being under any obligation to do anything more than we're willing to do. If we decide we want to move on to becoming companions, then we do, but if we want to stay behind the bar and serve drinks, that's also acceptable. Roy met me about a month after I moved out from behind the bar, since he'd been assigned to East City at the time and hadn't had the opportunity to visit Central when I'd been a barmaid – and gave me the rundown. I accepted his offer." She looked thoughtful. "Honestly, I don't think there have been any of the ladies who've worked here who've refused his offer. We're loyal citizens of Amestris, but we know there's corruption in the government and the military, and if Roy is trying to change that, then we want to do our part to help him."

"How does the information network work? How do you pass along the information? What sorts of information do you pass on? What do you receive in exchange for doing so?" Rossi asked, a little rapidly, but none of them seemed perturbed by that.

"Right now, everyone working here has been made the same offer, including Lacey," Roxy said. "The offer was for us to remember any information that we heard that might interest Roy. It could be anything from spats or personality conflicts among the higher-ups, any rumours or information about himself or his team, or any interesting tidbits that he might be able to use to further his goals or engender favours among other members of the military."

"While Roy was stationed in East City, passing information along was a little tedious. We would tell Madame, who would then pass the information along to Führer Grumman, or sometimes more openly in her correspondence with Roy, by passing it off as gossip from Central," Annie said as Hawkeye nodded to confirm what she was saying. "Whenever Roy came to visit, which was usually three or four times a year unless he was sent here on assignment for some reason, he would take one of us out for lunch or dinner. We could enjoy a night out without the expectations that most of our usual clients had and we could pass along anything we had overheard. Now that Roy is permanently stationed in Central, he takes one or two of us out every week, whether we have information or not." Her smile was a little fond at the thought.

"Right. As Annie said, we got a nice evening out without the usual expectations, but Roy also offers us money or gifts for any specific jobs that he had us do or information to listen for or try to get from our clients," Miranda said and expanded on her answer when Rossi gave her a questioning look. "There were times when he wanted us to listen for information on a specific person or watch to see if a specific person appears in the bar. The last time he asked us to do that was a few months ago when he and one of his subordinates were investigating Brigadier General Aleyce Henley. He wanted to know everything we could find out about her."

Rossi's interest was piqued by that information. "What did you find out?"

"Well, I found out some names of people for Roy to talk to or look into, but Annie found out the juiciest piece of information," Miranda replied before nudging Annie slightly.

"I found out that General Henley was sleeping with her superior, General Raven," Annie leaned forward in her eagerness to tell him. "As far as I was able to figure out, they'd been lovers for at least a year, and maybe longer. Raven was married at the time, and I don't remember hearing that he or his wife had any children, but it still would have been a huge scandal if it got out that two of the higher-ups within the military were sharing a bed. According to the fellow that I found this out from, Henley was very upset when General Armstrong told Führer Bradley that she killed Raven."

"I think there was something in the reports I read about the months before the Promised Day, but I don't remember specifics as to what her reasoning was," Rossi said, looking between the women and Hawkeye.

"According to what I heard, since I had been reassigned as Bradley's personal assistant at the time, Lieutenant-General Armstrong claimed that Raven had foolishly revealed a great deal of information about the homunculi's plans and about the Promised Day to her without any prompting. As she claimed to be a loyal citizen of Amestris, as well as interested in climbing up the military command, Lieutenant-General Armstrong killed him so she could take his spot in Bradley's inner group."

"Everyone thought that Henley was upset over her boss' death and the fact that she wasn't promoted to take over his place, but she had apparently divulged their relationship to her sister during a drunken ramble that was overheard by my source. He claimed that Henley told her sister that she had been made certain promises by Bradley should something unfortunate happen to Raven, but then Bradley didn't keep his word." Annie disclosed a little gleefully.

"So once you had that information from your source, you passed it on to Mustang?" Rossi asked.

"I passed it on to Madame, and as far as I know, she passed it on to Roy." She glanced over at Madame Christmas, who nodded in response. "All I know is that my source was promoted a couple of weeks later and offered a transfer to South City, where he could be closer to his ailing mother. Roy was the driving force behind his transfer, claiming that the man had shown excellent promise as an officer and would be a good fit under Colonel Dunn's command," Annie said, leaning back into the couch once more now that she had passed along her information.

Rossi made some notes before looking up at them. "The next thing I wanted to ask is if any of you heard any rumours from your clients or people outside the military regarding these crimes? More specifically, have you heard any rumours that claim Mustang wasn't the one behind them?"

The three women frowned a little in thought. Madame Christmas remained impassive though Rossi could see a hint of hope, and maybe a little worry in her dark onyx eyes.

"I haven't heard anything other than the usual rumours about how it had only been a matter of time before Roy snapped, considering what he went through in Ishval and on the Promised Day," Miranda finally said, a scowl marring her pretty features.

"Same here. I think there were a couple of drunks a few weeks back who claimed it was a conspiracy to rid our military of a powerful member, but they believed the people behind the frame job to be Drachmans who wanted to infiltrate the military and take over Roy's job." Annie rolled her eyes daintily.

"I haven't heard anything either. A lot of people had speculated whether Roy was truly innocent or if the military had simply decided to arrest the first suspect they got when the news broke, but in the last few days the newspapers have gotten quotes from someone within the military who claimed they'd done a thorough investigation and that Roy was completely guilty." Roxy's expression matched Miranda's. "While they didn't say it outright, the newspapers implied that there was solid evidence against Roy. Some even made it sound like he'd given a confession!" she added angrily.

Rossi made a note to have JJ look into the media articles, if she wasn't already. "So, how would you describe Roy Mustang, as a person?"

"Like we said, Roy is practically our big brother. He's protective of all of us but only when we can't handle the problem ourselves or if Madame can't handle it," Miranda told him.

"He's a loyal person. He'd never risk his team being punished for something like this, even if he was capable of killing those people!" Annie insisted.

"But _is_ he mentally or psychologically capable? I've heard about Ishval from the Führer and some other members of his team, and he _is_ the Flame Alchemist. His alchemy clearly makes him able to take people out in such a manner, but do you think he would?" Rossi asked and saw the flashes of anger on their faces.

"Just because he has the power to do it, it doesn't mean he did! He had to do what he did in Ishval. He _hated_ himself for it. I've lost count of the number of times he's come by and gotten drunk because he can't sleep due to the nightmares he's had about the battles he fought there! He's admitted to me that he still wishes that Führer Grumman had never given him that pardon, even if part of him is grateful for it because it makes it easier for him to perhaps become Führer one day," Annie told him sadly.

Rossi noticed Hawkeye's face fall slightly as well, and for a moment he thought he saw a haunted look in her brown eyes.

"My Roy-boy wouldn't have dealt with nuisances like that weasel, Bryce, like that," Christmas said firmly. Rossi almost commented on the nickname but elected to just bring it up with Mustang later. "He had far more legal avenues he would have taken before resorting to doing something like this. Not to mention that he was about to lay charges against Henley. He only needed a few more days to get the last few pieces in place before he could go to Führer Grumman for an arrest warrant. He and that Elric boy who works under him had put so much effort into gathering all that information together. Roy-boy would never have killed her if he was about to arrest her – it would have been a waste of all that effort. And then there was Andrews' death."

"What about Andrews?" Rossi asked. He was fairly certain he knew what the Madame was referring to but it would be good to hear it from another source.

"Roy and the Elric boy were friendly with Andrews. I remember Roy coming in here after the first time Andrews and his subordinate met and telling me how nice of a change it was that they had got along so well. Even if I bought Roy murdering the first four because of such ridiculous reasons, I know he would never have killed Andrews, not for the chance to take over his command or really for any reason. Andrews would likely have retired in a few years and Roy would have known that. Roy knows when patience works better than action," Christmas informed him as she lit a new cigarette.

"Yes, in the times I've worked with him before, I've witnessed that part of him, and I've seen him trying to keep Edward in check," Rossi agreed. "So you take the information from your ladies?"

She nodded. "They come to me with the information they've gathered. On the nights when Roy comes to take one of them out, I organise the dinners between him and whichever girl has the most important or interesting information. If they've found out information that Roy needs to know before we can arrange a date, I would use my connections with Grumman to funnel the information through to him," she explained leaning back regally in her chair, puffing on her cigarette.

"May I ask why you're so willing to help him? Is it simply an extension of your maternal feelings for him, since you helped to raise him?" Rossi asked. He wasn't overly surprised to see Miranda, Annie, and Roxy's lips curl up slightly in silent snarls or to shift like they'd been prepared to launch themselves at him. He was a little more surprised to see Hawkeye lose control of her mask for a moment and allow some confusion and anger to slip through before she caught herself.

"Despite the fact that I am his aunt and have raised him since he was a small child, if I didn't believe that his ideas for the military and the country were good ones, I wouldn't help him," Christmas said firmly. "There is plenty that I wouldn't help that boy with, but if there is something that I can help him with, I will offer what support and information I can, whether that means helping him rid the military of those like Bradley's inner group and supporters or to move this country into a better future. Heaven knows that the military's dirty laundry needed to be aired."

"Why do you let your girls help him? Surely they're putting themselves and your business in danger if word somehow got out that they were spying on the military for your nephew?" This time, the three ladies looked offended at the question rather than merely outraged.

"They help because they want to. All of them had the opportunity to turn down Roy's offer without it affecting their standing here or their job. They all know that anytime they feel unsafe or like something might happen that they can tell me or Roy and we'll investigate. They can stop gathering information whenever they want and it would never affect their jobs." All three of the ladies nodded in agreement.

"Like I said before, I was fifteen when my mother kicked me out, and I met Roy a few months after I started as a barmaid here." Rossi nodded to let Annie know he remembered. "Nearly three months after I met him, he came back to Central for a visit. It just so happened that I was working that night and there was one particular customer who had had a few too many whiskeys and was harassing us girls. When he groped me to try to get me to go to bed with him, Roy stepped in. He put himself in between me and the customer and told him to leave before he had him arrested for sexual assault. The man slurred some insults about how all the women who worked here deserved it and wanted it and Roy knocked him down with one punch before nodding to a couple of bystanders who had been coming to my rescue to take the man outside so he could sober up. After that, Madame banned him from ever coming back." Rossi felt the familiar disgust that always crawled up his throat whenever he heard about someone being treated in such a manner as he listened. "I'm not telling you this to get sympathy or whatever, but to make you understand why the ladies of this bar will continue to help Roy as best we can. My story isn't unique here and it's something we've come to accept as part of our jobs. But the danger that being discovered would bring is balanced out by the knowledge that Roy will defend us to the best of his capabilities." Miranda and Roxy had the same conviction on their faces that Annie had in her voice as they regarded Rossi almost defiantly.

Rossi spent a few minutes writing down a few notes on what he had just been told. "Alright. I think I've asked everything I came here to ask," he said as he flicked back through his notes to double-check. "Thank you very much, Madame Christmas, and you as well ladies," he added as he stood, unperturbed that none of the women stood when he did. "If you hear anything of interest regarding this case, please contact Captain Hawkeye as soon as you can."

"We're grateful that someone is looking out for Roy for a change rather than letting the military get away with framing him. If you need to ask any more questions, come by for a drink," Madame Christmas winked at him while the other three women gave him suggestive smiles. "Riza, dear, if you happen to get to visit Roy, let him know that we're all behind him and we'll help in any way we can."

While Hawkeye merely nodded in response to Christmas' request, Rossi allowed a smirk of his own – the one that had usually gotten him in trouble with his ex-wives – to form on his own face. "I may just take you up on that offer," he told her and she gave him a small, sharp smile of her own.

"Miranda, would you be kind enough to escort our guests back outside?" she asked and the red-head rose gracefully to her feet.

"Of course, Madame," she said before moving towards Rossi.

"Thank you for your time, Madame Christmas," Hawkeye said, bowing slightly. "I'll convey your well-wishes to General Mustang when I see him again."

"You're welcome dear. If you need somewhere to relax for a little bit, come by. Your drinks will be on the house," the larger woman told her, a soft look taking over her onyx eyes as Hawkeye nodded.

"Thank you, Madame. That's very kind of you," Hawkeye said, allowing a small smile to show.

Miranda looked at them expectantly and Hawkeye was quick to step aside to let the red head through so she could lead them out of the bar. The three of them followed without any complaints as Miranda moved through the establishment with a graceful ease and opened the same door they'd entered through. "Thank you for helping Roy. We'll call your office, Riza, if we hear anything."

"Thank you, Miranda. You ladies stay safe. I'm sure we'll have General Mustang out of trouble soon," Hawkeye reassured her softly.

Miranda winked at Rossi. "You bring yourself back anytime, handsome, and bring your friends with you. It's not often we get visitors from a foreign country, and we'll want to celebrate Roy's freedom." She closed the door firmly. They could hear the sound of her heels on the wooden floor for a few seconds before the thick wood and the distance muffled them before the three of them headed back towards the car.

"Captain, I have a question for you," Rossi said as they reached the car and Hawkeye unlocked the doors.

"Yes, Agent Rossi?" Hawkeye looked a little perplexed and curious about what he might want to ask her after that interview.

"When I mentioned the events in Ishval, Annie rose to his defense, saying that General Mustang wished, in part at least, that Führer Grumman had never arranged for the pardons, even if he was grateful for them. I noticed that your expression turned a little sad. Why is that?"

Hawkeye sighed a little, her brown eyes again taking on a haunted, sorrowful look. "Brigadier General Mustang has always felt guilty for the amount of death and destruction he caused in Ishval. It's the main reason why he's so protective of the secrets of flame alchemy. In the wrong hands, it would be devastating," she said, ignoring Lieutenant Ross' curious expression. "Once the war ended and he realised how senseless all of the slaughter had been, that we never even _attempted_ a truce or a peace treaty with the Ishvalans, the general conceived of a plan for once he'd managed to become the Führer. He wanted to put the military back on the right path and work cohesively not only with the surviving Ishvalans, but also with our other neighbours. His ultimate goal was to restore power to our parliament and to have everyone who was involved in the Ishvalan Civil War who was still alive by that time tried for war crimes – including himself and me."

"He _had_ planned?" Rossi asked, curious about the past tense.

"I don't believe that is his plan any longer," Hawkeye admitted. "I suspect that part of the reason that Führer Grumman went to the trouble of obtaining pardons for everyone with the approval of the Ishvalans was because he had an idea that was what General Mustang had planned to do. My grandfather is an extremely shrewd man and very experienced with how things work in the military, and if he truly believes – as I do – that General Mustang would make a worthy Führer someday, he would have wanted to help keep him from performing such a suicidal, foolish act." Hawkeye shrugged slightly. "I don't think General Mustang ever envisioned a future where the Ishvalans would forgive him – forgive _us_ – for what happened during the war, especially when they had been given the chance to get revenge by having him charged with war crimes and known that if they demanded it, Führer Grumman would have followed through."

The three of them got into the car and Hawkeye had the vehicle turned around and back on the main street towards Central Command before anyone else spoke.

"So what now?" Lieutenant Ross asked.

"Now we head back to the office and wait for Edward and his group to catch up with us," Hawkeye said as she maneuvered through the traffic towards Central Command. "I'm just glad Madame Christmas seemed to like you," she added honestly after a moment.

"How could you tell?" Rossi asked.

"She wouldn't have told you anything if she didn't," was the simple reply.

Rossi figured that was something he wouldn't have been surprised over. He watched out of the window as the buildings flashed by as Hawkeye drove back to the office and he let his mind wander from the interview he'd just conducted to how Edward and his group were going with their search of the crime scenes.

A/N - here's chapter 10 for all of you! I'm sorry this one is a little late but I'm currently dying from a cold which has affected my sleep routine - or lack thereof - and I woke up really late today. As always, many, many thanks to my awesome beta, PhoenixQueen, for her seriously amazing work on this chapter and just as many thanks to all of you who have left reviews on the chapters so far! Getting an email telling me someone had left a review on this story just made my day so much better so pretty please keep it up. I really do love getting comments and critiques from everyone. Until next week!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Edward and Alphonse didn't discuss much while in the car on the way to the scene of General Armstrong's attack. Despite the fact that Sergeant Browning seemed to be on their side, Ed still didn't want to discuss anything he'd talked about or heard about in the general's hospital room. He figured that Armstrong would likely skin him alive if he did discuss her attack with someone she didn't expect him to tell. Then again, she could skin him alive for being so scared of her that he wouldn't talk about her attack in front of Browning. Sergeant Browning didn't seem to mind the silence and navigated through the late afternoon traffic quickly and efficiently, so that they were at the scene in no time.

"Would you like me to wait here with the vehicle, Fullmetal, sir?" Browning asked as they pulled in behind what Ed thought was another military car, though there wasn't a driver that he could see. Looking around, he spotted the others waiting at the mouth of the alley, but he didn't see anyone with them who could've been a driver like Browning was. Maybe Brookes had driven them?

"Uh, hold here for a moment. I'll go see if we need you to stay," Ed said as he climbed out of the car with Al following right behind him.

"Yes, sir," Browning said, remaining behind the wheel of the car and watching as Ed and Al jogged the few meters over to where the small group was standing. Ed greeted the lieutenant colonel with a friendly wave before saying something. There was a quick discussion among the six of them before Ed turned around and headed back to the car.

"Thanks for the offer Sergeant, but Lieutenant Colonel Brookes actually drove them here and his car carries six. You can go back to Central Command," Ed said as he approached the window of the car.

"Very well, sir. If you end up needing another car, don't hesitate to call the military carpool. They'll send someone out for you," Browning told him, offering the best salute he could while in the car. Ed gave him a narrow-eyed look to remind him of what he thought about salutes and Browning immediately dropped it.

"Will do. Have a good rest of the afternoon, Sergeant," Ed said as he took a step back from the car to give Browning room to pull out.

"You too, sir," Browning replied before he shifted the car into gear and pulled back out onto the street and away from the crime scene as Edward headed back towards the group. Reid and Morgan seemed to be studying the layout of the street and the mouth of the alley as he approached.

"How did your interview with Lieutenant General Armstrong go?" Hotch asked as Ed moved to stand beside Alphonse.

Ed shook his head ruefully. "She definitely proved that she's still the Ice Queen despite being hospitalized. I have no doubt that even injured, she could put up a fight and win if she had to," he added with a grimace. Brookes and Alphonse both gave him looks of sympathy, although in Al's case it was sympathy mixed with amusement, which Edward didn't appreciate. "But, it was enlightening in a couple of ways. We learned a little more about the attack itself, but I also learned some interesting questioning techniques for victims. That cognitive interview thing that Rossi used was awesome." Hotch, Morgan, and Reid all had some pride on their faces on their teammate's behalf, but Brookes looked far more intrigued.

"What did you learn?" he asked, straight to the point.

Ed thought for a moment. "We think the attacker was slightly shorter and more agile than we had initially assumed. General Armstrong said that she attempted to fight back by throwing a punch after she realised she didn't have her sword, and she aimed for someone who was the same, or slightly shorter than she is. But she also didn't recall hearing her attacker move from in front of her to behind her to block her retreat."

"Couldn't that mean that her attacker had stealth training?" Brookes asked.

"Well, yes, except that General Armstrong also mentioned hearing a surprised gasp when she stopped once she sensed that it was a trap. No one with stealth training would've made that mistake," Ed told him and Brookes nodded in understanding. "Rossi also thinks that the attacker isn't physically fit or hasn't kept up with his physical training because he got winded after such a brief scuffle with the general and wasn't able to control his breathing the way Al and I can do after a hard fight. The General also recalled smelling something like a perfume or cologne amongst the other smells of the alley, but it wasn't strong enough or distinct enough that she could be sure that it was being worn by her attacker and not someone else who had been in the alley earlier that same night. Rossi also deduced a possibility that the attacker was missing a button from their uniform jacket. Your team didn't find one at any of the scenes, did you?" Ed asked Brookes.

"No, I don't recall one being found. I would've been told and would have gone around to everyone who worked that scene to find out if it was theirs," Brookes replied.

"Okay, so we should keep an eye out for it while we search the earlier crime scenes," Hotch said. "Anything else?" he asked Ed, who nodded, although his facial expression was one of confusion.

"Yeah. General Armstrong also mentioned hearing a scratching sound coming from or near her attacker every time she saw sparks coming from the gloves," Ed told them. "I don't know about Al, but I've never heard Mustang's gloves make a scratching noise when he's snapped his fingers." He looked over at Al, who looked equally perplexed.

"I honestly don't know," the younger teen told them, a little apologetically. "I've never paid that much attention on the occasions when I've been around the brigadier general when he's used his alchemy. I think the only times I was exposed to it before was when he went up against Lust and then again on the Promised Day. Both times there was so much going on that I wasn't paying attention to him."

"You mean there's an alchemy out there you don't know about?" Morgan asked, astonished.

Edward frowned, not sure if the older man was being sarcastic or if he was genuinely surprised. "There're likely several alchemic specialties out there that I don't know. I still don't know any healing alchemy, though I'm hoping that the negotiations that Führer Grumman is working on with the leadership of Creta will result in new treaties and I'll be able to go over there and learn their alchemy," Ed digressed slightly before shaking his head slightly and getting back to the point. "But Mustang is the only person who uses fire alchemy. He's the only person that we know of who knows the secrets to it. There're no published works that talk about it in any kind of depth or show actual techniques and arrays to make it work instead of just theorizing about it. No one knows where he learned it or how he came up with it in the first place. But since I've never needed to know about fire alchemy for my research into the Stone, I never asked him about it. I don't think either Al or I have ever even thought about asking Mustang to explain it or teach it to us. We've always had something else to focus on." Al nodded in agreement with his brother's words.

"Do you think it's something we should ask Mustang about?" Hotch wondered and Ed shrugged.

"We should probably ask Captain Hawkeye first. She's almost always with Mustang and she pays attention to everything. It's more likely that Mustang wouldn't have noticed if his gloves make a scratching noise when he ignites his flame," Ed told them, smirking a little.

"Brother," Al complained with a resigned tone in his voice. Ed rolled his eyes, to almost everyone's amusement, but didn't say anything more on that particular subject.

"Although…" Ed frowned in thought suddenly, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Something else seemed off to me about the subject of the sparks though. General Armstrong said that she heard the scratching and saw the sparks a few times during the attack, like her attacker couldn't create the flame. I've never heard of Mustang not being able to create a flame immediately unless his gloves were damaged or wet."

"It wasn't raining the night of the attack, was it?" Reid asked Brookes, who shook his head.

"No, it hasn't rained in Central for a few weeks now. We're into late spring and early summer here, and we don't usually get a lot of rain in this area at this time of the year," the lieutenant colonel said.

"Trust me on this one; in the five years I've been in the military, I've had plenty of higher-ups try and poach me out from under Mustang's command. They would always approach me with offers of higher pay, better working conditions, assignments better suited to my skills, etcetera," Ed said. "It was obvious they just wanted me under their command to get the same sort of reflected glory that Mustang was getting by having me under his command. The difference was that I knew that even though Mustang can be a bastard at times and he was using me to climb the military ladder, he was at least upfront and honest about it from day one. When I refused their offers, they usually would make sure to tell me all sorts of stories about all the times they'd heard Mustang's alchemy failed. I think they believed that as an alchemist I'd be annoyed that my CO failed with his alchemy sometimes and yet was still in charge of me. I thought it was hilarious and I made sure to bring those stories up to annoy Mustang the next time I went in for a mission briefing." Morgan and Reid grinned at him while Al looked a touch pale, like he would have rather not have been reminded of some of those moments.

"Of course you did," Morgan said, shaking his head ruefully. "We probably shouldn't be surprised by that, considering the way you two seem to go after each other at the slightest opportunity."

"Was there anything else that you learned from General Armstrong?" Hotch asked, getting the subject back on track. Ed frowned in thought as he went over the interview again.

"Ah, the only other thing was that there was nothing distinct about the uniform. No medals, rips, or stains. The only thing that stood out to her was the fact that she could see the dress shirt underneath, which is what made Rossi and her theorize that a button had been ripped off during one of the attacks. The indistinctive uniform is already part of your report so it really isn't anything new," Ed said apologetically.

"I really need to sit in on you guys interrogating a suspect or interviewing a victim," Brookes said in awe, looking at the three agents.

"We'll see whether an opportunity presents itself for you to join us," Hotch replied before glancing into the alley. "Shall we?" Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So what are we looking for? No offense to you guys, but I'm pretty sure there isn't much you'll be able to find without the advantages you're used to," Ed said as they took a few steps into the alley. Brookes cast a curious look at Ed and then at the agents but didn't say anything.

"We'll we're not strictly looking for more physical evidence aside from the button you mentioned, but if we find something unexpected, we'll certainly take it and use it to help the brigadier general," Reid said. "What we're looking for is signs to show how the attack happened. It will help us get into the unsub's head better if we know what restrictions they faced and freedoms they actually had. You two," Reid gestured at the two brothers, "will hopefully be able to help us figure out if the unsub used alchemy and what it might mean to the case and the unsub's behaviour during the attack." Ed and Al looked intrigued.

"And Brookes?" Ed asked, noting the shift of Brookes' shoulder to show the man had heard and was listening.

"As someone who's been to all six crime scenes, he has the most knowledge on them out of all of us. We'll be able to do something similar to what Rossi did with General Armstrong and ask him probing questions to see if there's anything that connects these scenes or anything that seemed insignificant at the time that he might had dismissed. He can help us by telling us exactly where something was found or how the victim was positioned in relation to a piece of evidence," Reid explained.

Ed nodded. "Cool. Hopefully we find something," he added in a muttered tone mainly directed at himself. The BAU had only been here for a day and a half, so he knew he really shouldn't have been expecting the case to be solved by now, but he kind of wished it was. The longer Mustang spent in the holding cells, the more opportunities the generals would have to try and make sure he never left them. He nearly bumped into Morgan when they halted just as they got to the dumpster.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, did you see General Armstrong before she was taken to the hospital?" Hotch asked, but Brookes shook his head negatively. "Edward, did General Armstrong mention anything that could help us figure out her position?"

"Uh, she mentioned feeling something slip under her boots when she tried to stand, like newspaper or cardboard maybe," Ed said. "And she told us the door opened up behind her, so she wasn't facing this building. But I'm going to take a wild guess and say that bloodstain is from her head wound," he added, pointing to the patch of dried, flaking blood in front of them. Hotch gave him a flat look as he, Morgan, and Reid moved forward to investigate.

After several minutes, Morgan stood back a bit, thoughtfully. "So, we think she ended up here. You can see the scuff marks on the cardboard here, and she wouldn't have been hit by the door if her head ended up here," he gestured to the two spots in question. "That means that she would've been standing roughly here when she went down. Since we know she only spun around before striking at her attacker, and never made an attempt to flee towards the street, that tells us she would've been in the same spot she was once she realised this was a trap." Ed and Al nodded. Morgan's theory made sense, based on the information they had, after all.

"That's great, but I'm not sure I understand why the position of where she was found is relevant to the attack," Brookes said, sounding immensely apologetic as he did. None of the BAU members looked offended by his statement.

"Since this is where the attack occurred, we now know which obstacles the attacker faced," Hotch explained. "The dumpsters, for example, could have aided in creating a choke point in the alley which would have made it difficult for General Armstrong to turn around, fight back, or escape. The attacker would have had to be very agile to pass through that gap between the dumpsters and General Armstrong without hitting them or alerting Armstrong to his presence and intentions. Either that or he was very familiar with this alleyway and spent a lot of time here before. We know it wasn't well-lit since the general never spotted her attacker and she couldn't get a clear enough look to identify him before she lost consciousness. Did you ask the workers in the businesses who use these dumpsters if they'd seen anyone handing around in the past few days?"

"We did ask if they'd seen anything suspicious, but no one mentioned anything about seeing someone spending a lot of time in the alley in the days before the attack," Brookes said. Hotch nodded like he'd expected that answer.

"So, the attacker was likely agile, or just lucky. In this profession, we don't really believe in luck though," Morgan said with a smirk. "So now we know our unsub is petite and agile. That could indicate rigorous training at some point in his life."

"So if we find an alternate suspect, we can exclude or include them based on if they've had the appropriate training at some point in their lives?" Brookes asked and Morgan sighed and gave him a look that seemed to say 'kind of'.

"As long as they've had it in the last few years, use that training regularly, or have had to take some kind of exam every so often that tests those skillsets," he explained. "If they had it in their childhood and they're around yours or Mustang's age, they likely won't be able to rely on it as much as if, say Edward or Alphonse hadn't done any training since the moment they left their teacher's tutelage before deciding to use it again for the first time today." Brookes nodded, writing everything down in a notebook he pulled out from his jacket.

"Are the two of you ready to do your thing?" Morgan asked and Ed nodded.

"Come on, Al, let's see what we can find," Ed said and the two brothers moved towards the dumpsters. With effort, they pushed them further apart to give them room to study the wall side-by side, their eyes assessing the bricks closely and critically. Brookes wanted to move closer to hear what they were saying, but Morgan stopped him physically with an arm across his chest. When he looked up at Morgan questioningly, Reid was the one to shake his head at him.

"If Al is anything like Ed, they won't appreciate their train of thought being interrupted by us. They'll tell us whether they have a working theory if they find something to support what Ed is thinking, or they'll move on if the theory doesn't pan out."

"Brother, look here!" Al exclaimed quietly from where he was looking at a lower section of the brick wall in front of them.

"What did you find, Al?" Ed asked as he crouched down next to his brother. Al's voice was excited and confident, which spurred Ed's excitement as well. Maybe this search of the crime scenes would really lead to something they could use to help Mustang.

"Do you see it?" Al asked, pointing at a section of the wall that he had been studying. Ed looked at the area of the wall closely before pulling the glove off his left hand and touching the faint transmutation marks he saw with near reverence. "It doesn't look very old either, right?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah, you can tell it's fairly recent because it's missing the grime that the rest of the bricks are covered with. See?" He shifted his hand over to the right a few inches before pulling it away and showing Al the thin layer of dirt that covered his palm. "Your hand comes away cleaner than it would if this section was as dirty as the rest of the wall. It feels a lot smoother too, the grout, that is. Did you feel that?"

Al nodded. "Yeah, when the alchemist transmuted the wall, they must have fixed the cracks that were due to the age of the bricks and the grout." He felt the bricks once more, looking up as he spoke. "It doesn't look like the transmutation ran the full height of the wall. I don't see any marks further up than maybe two meters from the ground?"

Ed took a step back and peered towards the top of the wall, straining his neck and eyes to try to make out the faint marks. "I agree. It doesn't go very high up at all. No taller than Major Armstrong. Al, did you check the ground too?" he asked suddenly, and Al looked confused, like he wasn't following his brother's train of thought.

"No, not yet." He watched as Ed crouched down again and studied the cobblestones.

"Here. Do you see this?" Ed asked as he pointed out what had caught his eye. Al's eyes widened as he took it in.

"Oh, yeah. See, it goes out this far," he indicated a point about half a meter from the building, "but then the marks change direction here," he added, pointing to the right, towards where Brookes and the agents stood. What do you think the alchemist was doing?"

"I think they were creating a shield," Ed told him. "I think the alchemist transmuted this section of the wall and extended it out into a barrier to hide behind until General Armstrong went past." He straightened up again, barely noticing when Al mimicked his movements.

Ed moved around to stand in front of the connected transmutation marks and gestured for Al to step over next to the wall, within the lines created by the marks while he studied what he saw. He glanced over at the agents and Brookes, not really seeing them, but looking at the scene he imagined. Even though there was still an hour or so before sunset was due to even start in Central, the alley was already darkening. He and Al had only been able to see what they had thanks to the thoroughness of the training they had received from Teacher. Any other person would've missed the marks completely. He looked between the spot Al had found and the alleyway before calling over the four remaining members of their group.

"What's up, blondie?" Morgan asked once they joined him.

"Do you see where Al is standing?" Ed asked and the four of them looked at him like it was obvious, because Al didn't exactly blend into the background. "An alchemist stood there, sometime in the last few days – a week at most – and hid behind a wall they'd transmuted that stood about two meters high and extended out to here." Ed tapped his right foot on the ground to indicate the spot where the marks ended.

"Oh, that's clever." Reid immediately realised what Ed was getting at.

"Wanna share with the rest of the class, boy wonder?" Morgan asked, nudging Reid's shoulder.

"The unsub created a barrier to shield himself from his victim to ensure that she didn't see him until it was too late," Reid said, swatting his hand away. "He likely transmuted it a couple of hours before the attack to lessen the chance that someone familiar with this alley would notice it. Then he set his bait and laid in wait for the victim. When General Armstrong didn't pass by the wall – which would have been the signal to attack and ambush her – he would've been surprised, hence the gasp, and had to adapt which would explain why this attack wasn't successful like the others. The unsub no longer had the element of surprise on his side." Both Elric brothers were nodding in agreement.

"I have a feeling that the first responders and Brookes' team were focused solely on the area where General Armstrong was found, right? You guys had a living victim. You would have been anxious to check on her as soon as possible, and your team would've been concentrating on where the evidence was likely to have been; right where General Armstrong was since this attack was interrupted before it could've been completed," Ed said, looking at Brookes.

Brookes nodded. "I didn't attend the scene right away. General Widdon and General Combes sent for me right away once we found out that Lieutenant General Armstrong had been attacked but was still alive. I ordered my team out to the scene right away, but when they arrived there were only two military police officers guarding the scene with orders to not permit anyone except my team entrance."

"So it's not completely out of the question that the attacker waited further down the alley until the scene had cleared, waited for the guards to be distracted, and then came back and transmuted the wall back to its original state right?" Morgan asked and Ed shrugged.

"I don't know. Whether or not the guards noticed anything depends on how dedicated they were to their jobs. It's certainly plausible since none of the reports mentioned a wall here, which indicates that no one saw it. I would've thought the light from the alchemic reaction would get their attention because that dumpster would only block some of it, but if they managed to miss an entire human sneaking onto the scene again I doubt a bit of light would catch their attention." Ed scowled a little at that thought. It really irritated him when people didn't do their jobs correctly or thoroughly.

"Wouldn't that be a risk for the unsub though?" Hotch asked and Ed gave him a questioning look. "During your first mission with us, you told us that you were one of only a few people who didn't need to draw a physical array to transmute. Wouldn't it have been a risk for the unsub to count on the guards being distracted or not glancing into the alley for the length of time it would have taken to sneak onto the scene, go up to the wall, draw out the array, activate it, and still get out of sight?"

Ed shrugged. "He could have prepared the array beforehand and drawn it on the back of the wall where it was out of sight. Or he could have had a cuff or pendant that he could place on the ground or the wall to activate it." He frowned thoughtfully. "I think Harding had a cuff he wore on his right wrist, but I'm not sure if you guys ever saw it. He was pretty intent on using the Stone."

"What if the guards were distracted by something, Brother?" Al asked. "If the killer caused something to happen that actually pulled the guards away from their post for a few minutes, it would give him time and a sense of security that he wouldn't get caught."

"You might be onto something there," Ed told him with a proud smile, nudging Al's side and causing the younger Elric to laugh as he adjusted his stance to keep his balance.

"Do you know who was stationed to guard the scene until your team arrived?" Morgan asked Brookes, who shook his head negatively.

"No. My team arrived before I did and dismissed the MPs. By the time I left the hospital and joined them at the scene, they had already begun searching for evidence and taking statements. I can ask my team when we get back to the office and arrange for them to be available tomorrow or the day after at the latest," he offered. Hotch nodded in agreement.

"What else do we need to do here?" Ed asked, bringing attention back to himself. "We're running out of daylight and I know you guys wanted to see the fourth and fifth crime scenes." No one missed the slight wince on Ed's face when he mentioned the fifth crime scene but no one said anything about Ed maybe sitting out of investigating that one. While everyone save for Brookes had already had first-hand experience with Edward's legendary stubbornness, Brookes had heard many stories about it and knew better than to try to persuade Ed not to do something he was resolved to do.

"You didn't happen to find the voice recorder or the pipe used in the attack?" Morgan asked.

"The pipe was found nearby and logged for evidence," Brookes told them, sounding a little confused. "It was included in my report on Lieutenant General Armstrong's attack, along with her signed statement." He frowned when Hotch and Morgan looked surprised by that information.

"He did," Reid confirmed. "I don't think you guys have read that report in its entirety yet," Reid told them and Brookes let out a silent sigh of relief. For a moment he'd thought he'd accidentally left that information out of his report.

"No voice recorder though?" Morgan asked and Brookes shook his head. The Elrics shook their heads as well, and Morgan sighed, but nodded. "Yeah, I guess if they had time to fix the wall, they had time to grab the recorder before it was found." It would've been nice if they hadn't managed to grab one of the biggest bits of evidence they could use, but of course that would have made things too easy.

"So, anything else?" Ed pressed after a couple of seconds, ignoring Al's hissed 'patience!" from next to him.

"No, I don't think so. Not unless Lieutenant Colonel Brookes has anything to add?" Hotch asked but Brookes shook his head.

"No. The only reasons we were able to connect this attack with the murders was because of the victim herself and her statement, the location, and quite frankly, the timing. We're still waiting on test results from each of the victims to see if there was any sort of accelerant used at the scenes or any other kind of evidence we could use to connect these crimes together," he divulged and the BAU looked a little surprised.

"You're still waiting on lab results?" Morgan asked, mentally taking stock of all the files he'd read and realising that he actually hadn't come across any sort of lab report.

"Right now we only have one functioning lab dedicated to this sort of work in Central. The other one was destroyed on the Promised Day, and the other state-sponsored labs were closed down while an investigation into what involvement, if any, they had with the Promised Day was conducted. Although fatalities were much lower than they could have been, there were some who didn't survive despite everyone's best efforts, and I know that a few of the fatalities were lab techs who died due to collateral damage during the battle. Führer Grumman wanted to focus more on helping the civilians who lost businesses or residences before beginning the rebuilding of the second crime lab or reopening the labs that were primarily used by the research branch of the State Alchemists," Brookes said a little defensively. Morgan made a placating gesture at the other officer before he looked at Hotch and Reid.

All three agents then looked over at Edward, who sighed. "There are two main branches in the State Alchemist program – field alchemists and research alchemists. The field alchemists tend to be active-duty officers in the military, like Mustang or Armstrong, who take on missions for the military. The research alchemists are usually assigned to one of the four active state-sponsored labs to conduct research on new alchemic techniques or – when Bradley was alive at least – weapons or combat arrays that the State Alchemists could use in the event of a war with one of our neighbours." He shrugged. "I'm sort of a combination of both, but I'm primarily a field alchemist. I do research whenever Mustang doesn't have a mission for me though." He pulled out his pocket watch and consulted it. "If you guys want to talk to the lab techs, we can do that like, tomorrow or the day after – whenever we've got some time – but for now let's head to the next scene." He was getting impatient now. The days may still be relatively long in Central since they were only now leaving autumn to edge into winter but that didn't mean they lasted forever. At this rate, they might still get to Summers' crime scene tonight, but it would be close.

"Good idea. We might do that when we go talk to the coroner. I assume the lab would be near the morgue?" Hotch asked, and Brookes made a 'kind of' hand gesture.

"It's about a five to ten-minute walk away depending on which route you take, but yeah."

Hotch nodded. "Then let's head to the next crime scene. I think we've found everything we can from this scene."

* * *

Ed would be the first one to admit that while he did memorise the addresses of where each victim was found, he never realised the distance between each of them. Or in this case, the lack thereof. Part of that reason was that each crime scene was located behind a popular bar, and considering that he wasn't old enough to drink, he didn't have any reason to visit a bar. So he noted the addresses, but didn't really think about it beyond that.

It didn't take them long to get to the site where Andrews had been murdered once they all piled back into Brookes' car, and Ed estimated that it likely wouldn't have taken longer than ten minutes if they had walked there from the scene where General Armstrong had been attacked. As Brookes pulled up to the curb near the alley, he had to repress a desire to shudder. He would, however, never admit how much he didn't want to be here. General Andrews had been a genuinely good man and Ed knew that half of his anger over Andrews' death was not just because it was pointless, but because Andrews was such a good person. It wasn't like the killer had decided to take out people who were simultaneously an enemy of Mustang's but also potentially the military or the public. Andrews had only been killed to further the killer's revenge against Mustang and Edward couldn't forgive them for that.

A nudge from Alphonse broke him out of his thoughts. Al had a knowing, worried look in his eye, but he kept silent, knowing Edward wouldn't like him bringing something like this up in front of other people, but he did give his brother a reassuring smile that Ed returned. The team climbed out of the car and headed for the scene while they waited for Brookes to finish securing the car against anyone foolish enough to try doing anything to it in broad daylight. Once he was done, Brookes joined them and led the group through the alleyway. Ed noticed that they were further down this alleyway than the one where General Armstrong had been attacked.

"Am I correct in the assumption that the rest of the murders occurred as far down into the alleyways as this one did?" Hotch asked.

"Yes. We think the reason that Lieutenant General Armstrong's attack happened so close to the entrance of the alley was because she sensed the trap so quickly and was more cautious in her approach, since she was aware that it could have been a trap from the beginning," Brookes told them. The BAU agents simply nodded before taking a look around the scene, as they had done with the last one.

They muttered comments to one another that were too low for the Amestrians to hear, and Ed found himself growing bored and even antsier about being at the scene where General Andrews had died. He _really_ didn't want to be here, but he wasn't about to excuse himself either. Of course, his younger brother was quick to notice the signs of impatience creeping into Ed's body language and the way he kept shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"Patience, Brother," Al whispered to him. "You know this sort of thing takes time if you want it done right."

Ed rolled his eyes. "Have you ever known me to be patient about anything?" Ed hissed back at his brother, only half serious. This time Al was the one to roll his eyes and nudge his brother with an elbow to his side. Ed growled at him but refrained from retaliating. For now.

"Alright Ed, Al. Do your thing," Morgan said after another ten minutes of silence and Ed really had to hold back his enthusiasm to get to work.

After carefully and deliberately avoiding the heavy black scorch marks that showed where Andrews had died, Ed chose the wall opposite the spot where Andrews was killed. He felt bad about leaving Al to investigate that side of the alleyway, but Al had taken it immediately, giving Ed a look that told him to not bother arguing with him. Truth be told, Ed was a little ashamed at the lack of a fight he put up – after all, he was the State Alchemist and his stubbornness and resolve were legendary. They did the same thing they'd done at the last crime scene, scrutinising the bricks of the wall looking for signs that the killer had transmuted it, and Ed wasn't overly surprised when he was the one to find the marks in between the area where the agents were standing with Brookes and the marks where Andrews had died.

"Al, over here!" Ed called and his brother immediately stopped what he was doing to investigate what Ed had found. After studying the marks for a moment, his brother nodded.

"Yeah, I think this is where the wall was made as well. There are marks on the ground here, see?" Al said, pointing to them. Ed nodded before he waved the others over to join them. Once they were within easy conversational range, Ed pointed at his discovery. "We found where the wall was made." The agents immediately started analyzing the scene once again now that they had the information to see if any of their conclusions would change.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, would you mind telling us how the body was positioned?" Hotch asked.

"Andrews was found face up and half-slumped against that wall," Brookes said, pointing to the wall Al had been investigating. "His left shoulder and head were resting against the wall and his feet were facing the mouth of the alleyway." Morgan and Reid looked a little surprised by that information. Hotch didn't show his surprise, but Ed was willing to bet that he was as well. The question was _why_ they were shocked by it.

"We saw the photos that showed his positioning, but we wanted to make certain that the body hadn't been staged after death, because we found clear signs of a struggle," Morgan answered the unasked question almost immediately. Brookes looked surprised, which meant that he and his team hadn't noticed anything unusual about the scene and he took a slight step forward before catching himself.

"What signs?" Ed asked curiously. Reid invited him forward and Ed joined him but stopped as close as he could stand to be near the scorch marks.

"There are scuff marks on the ground, likely made by leather boots, and if you look here," Reid pointed to some dried, rust-red streaks and spatter on the cobblestones and further up the wall Andrews had died against, "I think it's fair to say that Major General Andrews was likely struck across the face after the initial strike to the head from behind. Based on his height, and what General Armstrong told us about the presumed height of her attacker, I believe that General Andrews didn't go down after that first initial strike. He most likely turned around to fight his opponent, and maybe got a couple of hits in, but got knocked down by a strike to the face before being knocked out completely. Those blood stains are cast off from the weapon the unsub used." Ed would be lying if he said he didn't feel a bit queasy imagining what Andrews had gone through in the last minutes before his life ended.

"What if the blood isn't from Andrews?" Ed asked suddenly, as another interpretation occurred to him and Reid looked a little contemplative.

"It _is_ possible it could be from the attacker but that would mean that Andrews and his opponent were face-to-face for the initial attack. That would mean that the attacker would have had to manage to switch their positions or would have dragged Andrews' body and position him where he was found, but I feel like that is improbable," Reid replied.

"How come?" Ed asked, intrigued about the thought process Reid was using. The others were all listening intently, but not interrupting.

"Well, mainly because of what we know about the unsub from General Armstrong. The unsub is petite and fast. He didn't manage to knock General Armstrong out in one blow, and the evidence here suggests that he couldn't knock General Andrews out in one blow either. That tells me that he's not physically strong either. This is obviously not someone who utilises their training on a regular basis like you and Alphonse or keeps up with an exercise or strength-training regime in the gym. If that were the case it's likely that Andrews wouldn't have had the chance to strike back and Armstrong wouldn't have been able to try getting back up," Reid told them, excited by the fact that his audience wanted to know this.

"So you think that means we're looking for someone who isn't taller than General Armstrong and isn't fit enough to swing a knock-out blow, even with the help of a heavy weapon like a pipe or a board?" Ed summarized. "And you figured this out from blood splatter and the interview we conducted with General Armstrong?" Reid flushed a little at the awe in Ed's voice.

"Well, the blood splatter only helped me figure it out. There was plenty of other facts that I could use to draw on to help come to that conclusion," Reid said shyly, but with a little bit of a chuckle. "It helps to have an eidetic memory."

"That's really amazing how you could figure that out so quickly. You're almost as quick as Brother when it comes to figuring out a really complicated transmutation array!" Al exclaimed and exchanged a grin with Morgan when Ed and Reid both blushed immediately.

"I'm just really good at remembering things related to alchemy," Ed tried to deflect the compliment in a self-deprecating fashion. "Once you know the basics, it's just a matter of applying them, Al. You know that as well as I do." He slapped his brother's shoulder, lightly shoving him a step or two away.

"Was a weapon or voice recorder recovered here?" Hotch asked, causing everyone to look at Brookes to see his answer.

"No, we didn't. We scoured the entire alleyway and the adjoining one further up ahead. We were pretty desperate to figure out who was behind these crimes by the time this attack happened. If it was Mustang, we needed some sort of definitive proof; but if someone else was involved we needed to find evidence to support that theory as well." Brookes sighed. "We'd actually only just wrapped up a two-day search of this scene when I received word that Lieutenant General Armstrong had been attacked and the generals I report to summoned me to the hospital to interview her. That's why my team couldn't attend this scene right away, because we had to transport the evidence from this scene back to Central Command and the crime lab."

"Was the wall transmuted the same way as the other one at General Armstrong's scene?" Hotch asked the brothers.

"As far as we can tell," Edward said. "Most alchemists don't leave a signature on their work. Any alchemist trying not to have their work identified certainly wouldn't, so I don't believe that the alchemists in this case would have, but I think it's extremely unlikely that two similar walls were transmuted inside a week in alleyways where someone died or was attacked," Ed told them.

"So you think the unsub is actually an alchemist?" Morgan asked. Ed and Al looked at each other and shrugged before nodding.

"The transmutation marks at Armstrong's scene could have just been coincidence. An alchemist could have been doing a patch job on the floor and wall for the person who owns the bar," Ed said before Al cut in smoothly.

"But finding the same marks indicating that the same transmutation was used here in this alley around the same time?" Al said. "That's not a coincidence." Both brothers nodded.

"You know it's weird how the two of you finish each other's thoughts like that, right?" Morgan asked. "You don't even have the excuse of being twins." Ed and Al just gave him matching grins that had him rolling his eyes.

"Is there anything else we need to do here, Hotch?" Reid asked, bringing everyone's attention back to the BAU's team leader.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, is there anything else you can tell us about this scene? Anything that might have seemed strange or weird to you?" Hotch asked, ignoring Reid's question for the moment.

"No, I don't think so," Brookes replied after a long moment of contemplation. He sounded very apologetic about his answer, however.

"Alright. Let's move on to the next crime scene," Hotch said, leading them back towards the car. Brookes and the agents turned for the mouth of the alley, but Edward paused for a moment before following them. His golden gaze lingered on the black scorch marks that heralded the place where Andrews had fallen. Even though he hadn't served under Andrews as directly or as long as he had Mustang, he had still seen the Major General as a good man.

"Brother, are you okay?" Alphonse asked, from where he had paused a few feet away.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Al," Edward said, immediately turning away from the crime scene and heading over to meet his brother. "Let's hurry and catch up before they leave without us."

The two brothers picked up the pace and rejoined the other at the car, climbing into the backseat with Morgan and Reid while Hotch and Brookes took the front seat. Brookes started the car and headed for the alley where Henley had been killed.

"I don't think we actually asked, Ed, but how widely known was it that you and General Mustang were getting ready to press charges against Henley?" Hotch asked, glancing over his shoulder. "Was it known to the public at large, or even just among the military at large? Or was it strictly between your team and the Führer?"

Ed's face screwed up in thought. "It was pretty well known that we were investigating her, at least within Central Command. Since Mustang and I were pretty much leading the attack against Father and the rest of the homunculi, Führer Grumman put us in charge of gathering the evidence against those who supported Bradley and the rest of the corrupt members of the high command. Mustang was handing the politics of the matter and coordinating the investigation, while his team and I were actually focused on gathering the evidence. We were careful not to let anyone except the Führer know how far along we were on any one investigation. I don't really remember hearing any rumours or being questioned by anyone for specifics."

"Yeah, I don't remember hearing anything at Central Command either," Al confirmed and Brookes gave a hapless shrug.

"I was too focused on this investigation to listen to rumours. The first time I found out Henley was even being investigated was when a lieutenant who was at her crime scene told me about it. I definitely hadn't heard anything about there being an arrest in her future. Or, at least I hadn't until I spoke with General Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Elric –" an angry growl from said alchemist reverberated from the backseat of the car – "err, Edward that is," Brookes corrected himself quickly and heard a satisfied huff from the back seat, followed by Alphonse whispering Ed's name in a berating tone.

"How far away from actually pressing charges were you when Henley was killed?" Hotch asked, ignoring the grins from his agents as Edward ignored his brother's whispered lecture.

"Ah, I think General Bastard mentioned that he thought it would be another week or so. We were waiting for a few final reports to come in before we could compile all of our evidence and take it before Grumman to obtain an arrest warrant and permission to convene a court-martial for her. Of course, her being killed basically put all of our hard work for the last seven months to waste," Ed scowled. "Pissed us off, to be honest. Now we'll never know the information that she might have had that could lead us to other conspirators that we don't know about. But anyway, it probably would have been another week or two."

"We're here," Brookes said, pulling the car into a spot along the curb and parking. "We probably have just enough time to check out this scene before it gets too dark to see anymore."

They went through the same routine of getting out of the car as they had at the other two scenes. This crime scene was nearly a week old now and Ed mentally went through the whole week, trying to remember if it had rained at all, but he came up with nothing. As they entered the alley and reached the actual scene of the attack, Ed was relieved to see the scorch marks still there. While rain wouldn't wash away transmutation marks, it _would_ wash away soot and blood left at a crime scene.

Hotch, Morgan, and Reid immediately started profiling the scene the same way they had at the previous two scenes, looking around and talking to each other in a low voice, comparing notes and whatnot. Ed was far more patient this time since he had a rough idea of how long it would take for them to analyze the scene. Plus, it wasn't a scene where someone he liked and trusted had been unjustly murdered. Henley had been a paranoid bitch, and while he wouldn't wish such a gruesome death on anyone, at the same time he didn't have any particularly strong feelings about her either. Ed studied the scorch mark, right against the wall of the alley, like Henley had been laid down rather than left where she fell and was mildly surprised at the lack of empathy he had for her in this moment. In a way, it was almost like the way he'd felt in the aftermath of Harding's death.

"Ed, Al, are you guys good to do what you need to do?" Morgan called, breaking Ed out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, sure," Ed said, pulling Alphonse forward by the elbow to get him moving before they split up and took separate walls once more. By silent, mutual consent, they decided to start not too far from the scorch marks since the evidence from the previous crime scenes had shown the marks not to be too far behind where the killer had planned the attack to happen. However, a careful search of the area didn't result in either of them finding any sign of any kind of alchemy that they couldn't attribute to a specific intention like a repair job, or anything that was less than a month old.

When they'd searched the alleyway until they were back level with the agents and Brookes again, they met in the middle and had a whispered conversation that ended with Ed shaking his head and the two of them heading further into the alleyway before starting their search again. The agents and Brookes watched them curiously as they made their way slowly back to their original starting points. By the time they reached the agents a second time, both brothers were looking pissed off, though Ed's expression was definitely the most obvious to read.

"What's wrong?" Hotch asked as the boys came to a halt, Ed standing just past the scorch mark and Al right at his shoulder.

"There aren't any recent transmutation marks," Al told them with a faint scowl.

"So does that mean there wasn't a transmuted wall at this scene?" Brookes asked and Ed nodded. There was a full minute, during which no one said anything before Brookes decided to voice what he thought everyone else had to be thinking. "Does that mean that we screwed up somewhere and Henley wasn't one of the victims of this killer? Was she killed by a copycat?" His expression looked as though he really wasn't sure what he wanted the answer to be.

"I don't know. I seriously don't know," Ed told him, sighing as he leaned up against the wall and frowned in thought.

This wasn't new behaviour to Al, who knew how deeply Ed could go in thought when a problem was gnawing at his mind. He was surprised by the fact that none of the agents tried to interrupt Ed to hear his thoughts on the matter and was even more surprised when they stopped Brookes from asking with only a shake of their heads.

"It makes no sense!" Ed exclaimed after a few minutes of silence. "Henley _had_ to be a victim! She had a problem with Mustang and was loud about it! She was killed in the exact same way as everyone else, and the timeline makes sense with her in it!" He fisted his gloved hands in his hair and pulled the golden locks roughly, as if he was tempted to rip them out. Al felt all eyes on him and sighed.

"So why wouldn't the killer need to transmute a wall to hide behind?" Al asked, hoping to help his brother think it through without getting more annoyed or angry at himself because that would only end up with a frustrated and irate Edward and no answers or theories.

"Well, obviously because he decided he didn't need to hide from Henley," Ed told him, a touch exasperated. Al didn't seem offended with his brother's tone.

"Obviously, but _why_?" Al asked again, throwing some snark of his own into the question. Ed glared at him for a moment before the older teen actually stopped to think about it.

"Why _wouldn't _the killer use the same lure on Henley?" Ed muttered to himself. Al looked amused as they watched Ed murmur to himself, far too quietly and too quickly for them to follow his train of thought or the seemingly unconnected words and phrases they did make out.

"She was a complete bitch!" Ed said suddenly, and to the agents it was as though a light bulb had gone on over the teen's head. "General Armstrong told us that the lure the killer used to get her in the alley was someone pleading for help. General Armstrong might not exactly come across as the first person you'd imagine would come to your aid, but she would still at the very least check on the person. General Andrews definitely would've gone to investigate if he'd heard someone calling for help," Ed explained, vibrating in place as if he wanted to start pacing, but there was no room without bumping into the others. "But Henley was a paranoid bitch, especially the closer we came to arresting her and filing charges. She would _never_ have gone into an alley to help someone. She just wouldn't have."

"So then why would she have come into this alleyway?" Reid asked, being the first to voice what the others were thinking.

"Maybe the attacker still lured her, but used different bait?" Al suggested and Ed considered it for a moment before nodding.

"Probably. Maybe he said he had a way to get me and Mustang off her back or something." Ed shrugged. "Whatever he used, Henley would have seen his face, or at the very least, heard his voice. She wouldn't have followed me or Mustang into this alley any sooner than I would've followed Envy or Moore down here."

"Envy?" Reid asked.

"One of the homunculi who were working with Father towards the Promised Day," Ed scowled. "He was the one who shot Hughes in the phone booth and tried to frame Lieutenant Ross, and he was one of the most annoying of them. Mustang actually defeated him in combat on the Promised Day. When Envy realised that he couldn't turn us against each other and break up our alliance, it broke him and he ended up committing suicide."

"So, you think Henley was still lured down here, just not the way we presume everyone else was, with a voice calling for help?" Brookes asked.

Ed nodded. "It would explain why there aren't any transmutation marks in this alley to show a wall was made and then put back. The killer wouldn't have needed to hide behind it if his plan was to tell Henley something enticing enough to get her to follow them."

"You know," Al started after a moment of silence as everyone contemplated the new development. "I think we should assume that not every crime scene will have those marks, rather than assume they do." He expanded his answer when everyone – except Reid and Edward – looked at him in confusion. "Captain Bryce was completely drunk by all accounts – the killer might not have needed to lure him at all and I doubt that he would have needed to try very hard to lead him anywhere, assuming that he wasn't already passed out in one. It's hard to say for sure since I never met them, but based on their service records, I do think Major Pardi and Colonel Summers might have investigated someone calling out for help, but they also might have been baited with something else the same way Henley was, considering how outspoken they were against General Mustang."

Realisation dawned on Hotch, Morgan, and Brookes as they took in what Al was saying. "So, the killer was clever enough to adapt his lure to each victim?" Brookes asked, and the others nodded. "Does that mean the killer was stalking his victims as well as Mustang to learn what would work on them?"

"Not necessarily," Morgan said. "Stalking behaviours are pretty varied, but there is some degree of overlap. I think in this case, the unsub most likely just learned by listening. All of the victims worked here in Central Command, and if General Armstrong is correct and the unsub was wearing a military uniform, there's a good chance he works here as well. He could have just listened to gossip or even talked to the victims at some point before he decided to use them in his scheme and learned everything he needed to know. Stalkers generally don't have the capability to focus on more than one target at the same time."

"Great," Brookes said with a sigh. "Hundreds of soldiers and officers work at Central Command and then there are several branch offices on top of that, like personnel and recruitment, procurement, the treasury…"

"Given the degree of obsession this unsub has with Mustang, I think we can assume that he most likely works at Central Command, since that's where Mustang is based. He'd want to be as close as he could get to the General to be able to observe his habits," Hotch said thoughtfully.

"Wait, what kind of alchemy is this unsub using anyway?" Morgan asked suddenly, realising that they hadn't actually asked the brothers that question yet.

"It's just a basic earth array," Ed said glumly. "Every decent alchemist knows earth arrays, because they're some of the easiest ones to learn and the most frequently used. You could say that they're the foundation of all alchemists' knowledge. Everything else you learn depends on how well you learned the earth arrays."

"So just knowing an earth array doesn't help us narrow this down any further?" Hotch asked.

Ed shook his head reluctantly. "Not really. If someone who aspires to be an alchemist can't even use an earth array competently, they really don't have any business pursuing further studies because they'd be risking a rebound on more advanced transmutations. My point is that we can assume the unsub is an alchemist – and a half-decent one at that – but we wouldn't be able to narrow the list down by asking who knows how to use a basic earth array because all of them would be able to, even if earth arrays aren't their primary specialty."

"Okay. Brookes how was Henley found?" Morgan asked.

"Are you asking how her body was positioned or who found her?" Brookes queried.

"The first one," Morgan said and Brookes thought about it for a moment before indicating the scorch mark.

"She was found with her back against that wall, lying on her side, head pointed further into the alley and her feet pointed towards the mouth of it. Her purse was found a few feet away from her, on the opposite side of the alley. If it hadn't been for the burns on her head and torso, you would've thought she'd simply fallen asleep or passed out because she'd drunk too much," Brookes told them as Al headed over towards the scorch marks to look, with Ed right at his heels.

"Huh." Was all Morgan had to say before he took a few steps forward and turned so he was facing the scorch marks as well. Ed glanced at him before focusing on what Al was doing when he realised Morgan didn't need them for anything. After a moment, the dark-skinned agent began making swinging motions with his arms, like he was using a bat to hit something.

"What is it Morgan?" Hotch asked.

"I think our unsub is a leftie, Hotch," Morgan revealed after a moment.

"What makes you say that?" Brookes asked curiously.

"Reid, did the autopsy reports mention if Henley suffered a blunt-force wound to the head?" Morgan asked, ignoring Brookes for the moment.

"Yes, to her right temple, in a similar manner as Lieutenant General Armstrong," Reid answered immediately. Morgan nodded like his theory had just been proven.

"I thought so." Seeing Brookes' confused expression, he explained. "I wasn't sure to start with because it could've been possible that when Armstrong dodged the first blow, the unsub simply swung again immediately." Seeing that the other officer's expression hadn't changed, he explained further. "Okay, let's pretend that I'm the unsub and Reid is General Armstrong."

Reid didn't look thrilled to be part of the demonstration, but he did follow Morgan's prompts to turn around so that his back was to Morgan. "General Armstrong said that she stopped at the dumpsters, heard the unsub moving to attack, and felt the air shift from the movement of the pipe towards her head, but she never specified which direction the first attack came from. Most people would assume the attack happened like this." Morgan swung an imaginary pipe from left to right, straight across with a descending follow through on the swing, showing how if the blow had connected, it would have struck Reid in the left temple.

"Well that would make sense, since the vast majority of people in Amestris are righthanded," Brookes said.

"It's the same where we're from," Morgan agreed. "However, General Armstrong said that she ducked that first attack and spun around in place to face her attacker." Reid made a rough approximation of Armstrong's movements as Morgan explained, ending up so that he was facing Morgan with a bored expression. Morgan swung again as Reid turned, mimicked the blow missing its mark so that the 'pipe' was pointing towards the ground on his right. "From this angle, the unsub would have had to step back and readjust his stance in order to connect with the victims' right temple like the autopsy reports show. However, doing do would have moved him away from the victims and given them time to scream or fight back. If he tried to use a backhanded attack like this," Morgan swung the "pipe" again at an upward angle from right to left, showing how it would have connected with Reid's right temple this time, "he most likely wouldn't have knocked the victims out with a single blow."

"And why is that?" Brookes asked.

"In almost every case, a person's backhand swing is the weaker one. It's not a natural motion, because of the angle and the fact that we derive more power on a swing by beginning from the opposite side of our body and throwing all of our weight and momentum into the swing," Morgan said. "But, if the attacker was left-handed, he would have started the attack from the right, and connected full force with the victim's right temple, exactly like the autopsy reports show."

"But you said General Armstrong spun around, which would have put her right temple on the wrong side for that kind of blow," Brookes argued.

"Yes, but General Armstrong also went for her sword, realised it wasn't there, and took a split second to throw a punch once she realised she didn't have her weapon," Morgan explained. "That hesitation, however brief, would have been enough for the unsub to follow through on the first blow, and reset himself to swing a second time, and then the second blow would have caught the General on the right-hand side."

"That makes sense, but it doesn't prove the killer is left-handed," Brookes agreed after a moment of thought.

"You're right," Morgan nodded. "However, Henley was also struck in the right temple, and if we're right about her being lured in a different way, she likely saw her attacker face to face, rather than being ambushed from behind. Since she fell into the alleyway, rather than towards the street, we can determine her position and the wound to the right temple indicates that the attacker would have swung the weapon from right to left for maximum force," Morgan relaxed out of his stance. He noticed Ed watching them, but as soon as Morgan finished his explanation, the older alchemist turned his focus back to his brother.

"Mustang is right-handed. If your theory is correct and the killer is left-handed, this means we might have enough evidence to cause reasonable doubt," Brookes said, his tone turning excited.

"No we don't."

Everyone turned to look at Edward, who had looked away from Al and was facing them with a glum look on his face. He sighed as he straightened up from his crouch. Al straightened a moment later, indicating that they were done with the scorch mark.

"What do you mean, Ed?" Reid asked, confused about the expression and tone of Edward's voice.

"Mustang is ambidextrous," Ed told them sullenly. "Almost no one knows that fact because he prefers to use his right hand to write and do his paperwork. It should be obvious since he uses both hands just as well during a fight, but people aren't very observant and they just assume he's right-handed. Mustang's never bothered to correct them since it is something that he could use to his advantage at some stage. As far as I know, the only people who know that fact are Captain Hawkeye and his team."

"So how did you find out about it?" Reid asked.

"By accident. I was in the office one day back when he was a Colonel posted to East City. Al and I had just returned from a mission and were there to drop off my report when Mustang called in and tried to say that he couldn't work because he'd damaged his wrist. Captain Hawkeye told him that she knew he could sign his name just as well with his left hand, so he'd better be in soon to deal with his work or she'd come to his house and drag him in." Ed grinned at the memory. "The lecture he got when he finally did turn up was _so_ worth me sitting in his office for an hour when Al and I could have been researching at the library," he added with a laugh. Al shook his head at his brother but couldn't stop the small grin on his own lips as he watched Morgan and Reid join in with Edward's laughter.

"Alphonse, why were you studying the scorch marks?" Hotch asked once everyone had quieted down a bit. His question had them all focusing on the subject at hand again.

"Oh, when Brother went to Resembool a few days ago to escort Miss Gracia and Elysia to Granny's, I went and spoke with Brigadier General Mustang about his fire alchemy," Al replied. "I was trying to figure out from the crime scene photos of the body if there were any signs of alchemy used, but I didn't know enough about fire alchemy to know what I should be looking for. Captain Hawkeye suggested that I go and pay him a visit and ask since he is the leading expert in fire alchemy."

"What did he tell you to look for?" Reid asked curiously.

"Well, he thought my idea to go through his old cases where he has had to use fire alchemy against someone and compare the photos was a good idea, but he also suggested that I look at the scorch marks to see if they were even." The agents and Brookes gave him confused looks. "I couldn't really tell with the photos since no one could really get a shot of the whole body from above, so I figured I'd take a look while we were here. The scorch marks aren't even. There are some lighter parts and some darker parts in it. The general told me that whenever he uses fire alchemy against someone, he tries to make it as quick and painless as he possibly can by making the fire as hot as possible and making it hit his enemy as evenly as possible so they wouldn't have to suffer." Al's expression shifted to one of discomfort as he spoke, but he didn't let it stop him.

"Did Mustang suggest why the scorch marks could be uneven like that?" Hotch asked.

Al nodded. "Yeah, he said if they were it could mean an accelerant was used. The attacker would have limited control over the pour pattern if they used an accelerant and some of it would undoubtedly drop onto the ground from the body. If that happened, the accelerant would cause darker scorch marks than just the fire itself."

"So are we now thinking there was definitely some kind of accelerant used?" Brookes asked and Al shrugged.

"Yeah, it's possible. I didn't smell anything here or at the last crime scene though."

Ed nodded in agreement. "Same here. It's only been a week since Henley was killed and even less since General Andrews was found and it hasn't rained in the meantime. It's actually been really warm for this time of year and I think the smell would linger if a strong accelerant like gasoline was used."

"I didn't smell anything that could have been an accelerant when I was at any of the crime scenes. The only things I smelled were the wonderful mixture of stale beer, vomit, rotting garbage and of course the smell of burnt flesh," Brookes said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice, which caused grimaces of sympathy from those who were familiar with those odors. However, something about what he said seemed to ignite a thought for the brothers, because they immediately started whispering to each other again. The agents and Brookes could only hear snippets of what they were saying this time.

"It's possible they used –"

"– it'd have to be a high percentage –"

"– could've bought it pure, Al –"

"Yeah, but I don't think –"

"Hey, so maybe you guys can stop doing that brother/genius whisper thing and share with the rest of the class?" Morgan interrupted the conversation. Both brothers looked a little sheepish as they faced the rest of the group.

"Sorry, we do that a lot," Al said, grinning a little crookedly.

"What's the big conspiracy you were whispering about then?" Morgan asked, waving off the unnecessary apology.

"Well, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes mentioned smelling alcohol at every scene," Ed began. "It makes sense, considering the bars close by – if not directly adjacent to – the alleys where the victims were killed."

"So when we heard that, we realised the killer would've known that since he obviously staked out the alleys to make sure they were suitable," Al continued smoothly. "He wouldn't have used an accelerant with a smell that wouldn't blend in with the typical alley aromas, especially if he was aiming to frame Brigadier General Mustang."

"Which means he would've used something that either had no scent when it burned or wouldn't stand out to investigators," Ed interjected himself back into the explanation. "Obviously, it would also have to be flammable, so that rules out a lot of things."

"But then we realised that alcohol is flammable, depending on what drink you're talking about," Al took over again. "Beer isn't that flammable, but something with a higher alcohol content would be."

"However, it would make more sense for the killer to use pure alcohol – ethyl alcohol to be exact – rather than chance that his spirit of choice wasn't flammable enough," Ed revealed. "We were discussing whether or not it was possible for the killer to have alchemised it, but I don't think he did. It would have been really easy to mess up and could have caused an explosion that took out the killer, and I don't think he would risk that."

"So, now we think that the unsub bought it and poured it over the victims once he'd managed to knock them out. The killer could have kept it in a bottle or something easy to conceal so he wouldn't stand out when leaving the scene," Al finished, with Ed nodding in agreement.

"Again, creepy that you do that," Morgan said, making the brothers grin at him with near identical smiles. "Stop that," he told them, laughing a little. "But that's some good thinking and it makes sense for this killer to bring his accelerant with him. What do you think, Reid?"

"Ethyl alcohol has a flash point of thirteen degrees Celsius and burns at a high of three hundred sixty-five degrees Celsius. A human body can start burning severely in a fire with temperatures as low as seventy-five degrees Celsius. However, a human body would need to be burned at temperatures above one thousand degrees Celsius for several hours before it would be reduced to ash. Using ethyl alcohol wouldn't reduce a human body to ash at all. It would simply burn before extinguishing itself once the fuel ran out," Reid recited immediately.

Edward frowned. He hadn't known that information, but if he was the person behind these attacks, he would have made sure to know everything about the accelerant he chose to use.

"Ed? I can see your wheels turning," Morgan pointed out, poking him on his left shoulder and snatching his finger back before Ed could swat at it.

"It's not a good choice," Ed told them reluctantly. "Ethyl alcohol isn't a good choice for an accelerant. It doesn't burn hot enough to destroy the body. I get that there's no scent after it's set alight, like there would be with something like gasoline, but it's still not a great choice. If this person went to all of this trouble to frame Mustang, why wouldn't he choose an accelerant that would get rid of the body better? It would make it look more like fire alchemy if the body wasn't as intact as these are. Ethyl alcohol can't be the only accelerant in Amestris that doesn't have a smell after it's burnt."

"Maybe making it so it looked like fire alchemy but making sure the bodies were easily identified was the point, Ed," Reid offered. "If it took the investigators a while to figure out who the victims were, it would have taken them longer to arrest Mustang, which meant the unsub would have had to wait longer to enact the second part of his plan."

"Woah, hold up. Second part of the plan?" Brookes asked and the BAU agents looked a little surprised before realisation dawned on them.

"When I interviewed Captain Hawkeye, I came to the conclusion that it's possible the unsub isn't finished yet since there's been no correspondence between him and Mustang's team, nor are there any rumours on the street from anyone claiming to have bested a Brigadier General and framed him for murder. It is extremely unlikely that someone would put this much effort into a plan like this and not gloat or celebrate in some fashion once it was done. Since that hasn't happened…" Morgan trailed off, leaving Brookes to fill in the blanks for himself.

"So, should I be expecting more bodies?" Brookes asked, looking pale at the thought.

"I would be very surprised if the second part of the unsub's plan is to commit more murders," Hotch told them honestly. "If more bodies turn up while Mustang is behind bars, it would be clear evidence that he was being framed. Unfortunately, until we either catch him or figure out who he is, we won't know why he went after Mustang or what the rest of his plan is."

"So what do we do now?" Ed asked.

"Well, I doubt we have the time to go to Summers' crime scene," Hotch told them, causing the three Amestrians to look at the sky and realise how dark it was already. The streetlights would soon come on so people could navigate the streets. "So, I suggest we head back to the office and catch up with Rossi, Lieutenant Ross, and Captain Hawkeye. We'll have dinner and hear what they've found out while we were looking at the crime scenes."

"Sounds like a plan," Ed agreed, happy to go back to the office so he could eat. Al must have figured out what he was thinking because the younger Elric rolled his eyes at his brother. "What? I'm hungry and I have two automail limbs!"

"Then let's go," Morgan said, already heading for the car. Everyone else was quick to follow, the two brothers bringing up the rear and lightly squabbling and shoving at each other.

* * *

They'd decided that no one would have gone out to fetch dinner yet, so the six of them stopped at a restaurant that Ed and Al both agreed did excellent sandwiches, salads, pasta, and rice bowls. Brookes was able to make a suggestion for Sheska without making it sound like that's who he was ordering for. Between the three of them Hotch, Reid, and Morgan were able to come up with orders for Rossi, Prentiss, and JJ, while Ed and Al placed orders for the rest of Mustang's team. Ed paid for the food and once it was ready they climbed back into Brookes' car and headed back to Central Command. Once they got there, Brookes returned the car with a thank you to the sergeant at the desk and took his own meal to his office with a promise that someone from the BAU team and someone from Mustang's team would drop by later that night to bring him up to speed on everything that they had found out over the course of the day.

The rest of the group headed for Mustang's office and were nearly attacked when they entered, the smell of the food having alerted the hungrier members of the teams to their impending arrival. Once they managed to get the food handed out to everyone, they settled down to muffled 'thanks' from those who hadn't joined them at the crime scenes and dug in. Ed told Sheska that Brookes had been the one to suggest what to get her when she asked and she looked worried that might mean he wouldn't be able to truthfully say he didn't know she was here if he was questioned, but Ed assured her it wouldn't happen because Brookes had never actually said who the salad was for. Sheska had still looked worried, but accepted Ed's words and went back to her meal.

"Thank you for dinner, sir," Hawkeye said once she had finished her dinner.

"All good, Captain," Ed replied with a smile. "What did you guys get up to while our groups were gone?" Ed asked of Prentiss, JJ, and the rest of Mustang's team.

"Lieutenant Havoc was good enough to escort me around the military so I could question some of those who had worked closely with Bryce, Pardi, and Summers," Prentiss said. "Unfortunately, I didn't discover anything more than what had been included in the reports." She looked mildly annoyed about that. "I'm hoping to find out more about Henley and Andrews tomorrow, and if there's time to follow up with the families and friends of all five victims."

"Sergeant Fuery stayed with me as I went through the case files once Dr. Reid left," Sheska told them quietly."

"Sergeant Fuery and Lieutenant Falman assisted me in gathering any newspaper articles that covered or mentioned the murders and attacks. It took a while so I helped Sheska with the case files in the meantime," JJ told them. She indicated a thick stack of newspapers on one corner of Fuery's desk. "We only just finished getting them all together and are waiting to see what tomorrow's newspapers include before I start going through them."

"I used the time to catch up on my work and Havoc's since he was out with Agent Prentiss," Breda told them and Ed nodded.

"So, do you want to go first, Captain, or do you want us to?" Ed asked when no one from Hawkeye's group was forthcoming with information about what they did when they left the hospital.

"How about you and Agent Rossi tell everyone what you found out from Lieutenant General Armstrong and we go from there?" Hawkeye suggested and Ed nodded in agreement.

Soon the room was listening intently as Ed started telling them about everything that happened with General Armstrong, leaving no detail out as he did. Rossi and Lieutenant Ross cut in every now and then with their own comments and thoughts during Ed's retelling of the interview. Ed didn't seem to mind the interruptions, which encouraged the others to ask all three of them questions they happily answered. The whole room made themselves comfortable, knowing full well that they likely wouldn't be leaving any time soon but not a single person seemed to mind.

A/N - And here's chapter 11 for everyone! Yay! As always, massive thanks to PhoneixQueen, who you all must know by know is my amazing beta, for all her hard work on this chapter! My next lot of thank yous goes out to all of you wonderful people who have left a review on the last chapter! Thank you so much guys. I'm sure you're sick of me saying this but I am truly grateful for every comment I get. They never fail to make my day just that much better so thank you xx I'll see you all next week!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

_The next morning…_

Ed groaned as he woke up, stretching as he did so to try and get his blood flowing after having spent so long not moving. He glanced around the office he was currently camping in and spotted his younger brother on the opposite couch, still fast asleep. Ed indulged himself for a little while longer, staring up at the ceiling of Mustang's office and just lying there while he went over everything the teams had talked about the night before.

Hawkeye, Rossi, and Lieutenant Ross had caught them up on everything that had happened at Mustang's aunt's bar, after which Edward and his group had given them the run down on what they'd discovered at the crime scenes. Hawkeye and the rest of Mustang's team had perked up when Ed had mentioned that the attacker was likely an alchemist, but they'd deflated slightly when Ed had mentioned they'd only seen evidence of them using a basic earth array. As people who had been around three alchemists almost constantly for almost six years, they knew that earth arrays were some of the easiest ones to use so it wouldn't narrow the suspect pool down by much.

Once everyone had been caught up on everyone else's activities during the day, Ed had asked Morgan and Falman to head to Brookes' office and bring the lieutenant colonel up to speed as they had promised the older officer he would do. After about an hour they had returned with the news that Brookes had managed to identify and locate the two guards who had been assigned guard duty at the Armstrong crime scene. Brookes had arranged for them to come by his office after their shift ended the next day.

According to Brookes, via Morgan, the two men were on escort duty for a visiting Major General from South City and would be switching over with the next pair assigned to the rotation at three p.m. Since they couldn't exactly excuse themselves before they were relieved of duty without risking their careers, Brookes had simply left orders for them to head to his office after the new escort detail arrived. Ed had grinned when Morgan had said that Brookes had offered to let a couple of them join him to conduct the interview about what they'd seen while they'd been on guard at the alley. After a moment, Ed had decided that Morgan and Falman would be sitting in on the interview. Both had agreed to the plan. They'd then spent the next couple of hours hashing out their plan for the next day – well, today, that is.

Ed groaned again, this time in annoyance as he remembered what he'd be doing later today. He'd discussed it with Hawkeye and she had – unfortunately – agreed that accompanying the generals to Mustang's house so they could execute their search warrant, if only to stop them from breathing down the teams' necks for a little while was the best plan of action. Ed had been of the opinion that continuing to delay – mostly just to continue being petty and irritate the generals – was the better option. He _might_ have grumbled something to that effect under his breath, which had caused Hawkeye to give him a specific look which told him she wasn't completely against his idea, but that they'd have to suck it up. So, after discussing it for a few minutes they'd agreed that she would call the generals first thing this morning and arrange to execute the search warrant between eleven a.m. and noon, which would give the two of them enough time to get through the day's paperwork before they left Central Command to meet the generals and their teams at Mustang's house.

Ed stretched languidly once more before rolling off the couch, landing lightly on his hands and knees before standing and stretching his back. Everyone had called it a night around midnight last night and had left in groups. Breda was staying with Fuery, which meant they had escorted the BAU agents to their rooms before Breda borrowed Fuery's spare bed. Sheska had accepted Lieutenant Ross' offer to stay with her since they were commuting together. Hawkeye and Falman lived a few blocks away from each other, but neither had a big enough apartment to offer the other a spare bed, but Havoc had then mentioned he had a small spare room and a pull-out couch.

Hawkeye had nearly accepted the offer, since there wasn't really another one on the table, when a sergeant had knocked on the officer door and handed Hawkeye a message after Edward had given permission for him to enter. He'd apologised and said he was supposed to wait for a response from Hawkeye so he could pass it along to Führer Grumman. That had raised a few eyebrows, including Hawkeye's, and they waited as she opened the message and read its contents. She'd told the sergeant to let the Führer know she would accept his offer before dismissing him with a nod. Once he left she'd revealed that Grumman had asked if she would like to join him and his wife for a late dinner and then stay the night. That had solved the problem of where Hawkeye could stay so that she wasn't by herself, for one night at least. That left Falman and Havoc to stay together at Havoc's place.

Ed looked over at his brother again before picking up the cushion that he had been using as a pillow and tossing it lightly at Al's torso, hoping the hit was strong enough for it to serve its purpose. Al woke up with a start and tumbled off the couch much less gracefully than Ed had done before getting his bearings and glaring at his older brother with a promise of revenge in his eyes. He seized the pillow by its corner and flung it back in Ed's direction.

"Come on, let's get some coffee," Ed said, catching the pillow and tossing it carelessly back onto the couch.

Al muttered something that was likely unflattering about Ed, but followed his brother's lead and made himself somewhat more presentable, considering how rumpled their clothing was after two nights on the couches in Mustang's office. Once Ed had finger-combed and braided his hair, they headed down to the mess hall and grabbed cups of the toxic sludge that barely passed as coffee – and that only because of the caffeine in it. They drained their cups as they walked back to the office, Ed lamenting the whole way back that Mustang needed to get a coffee maker installed in his office so that they wouldn't have to rely on the dubious offerings in the mess hall.

As Alphonse pushed the office doors opened and the two of them tossed their empty cups into the wastebasket next to the door, they saw Captain Hawkeye sitting at her desk, sorting through a thick stack of paperwork, a steaming cup of coffee sitting near the top edge of her desk. She looked up as they entered. "Good morning boys."

"Morning, Captain Hawkeye," they chorused, Al smothering a yawn as he did so.

"I trust you got some sleep once we left?" she asked, her sharp blue eyes roving to take in their rumpled clothes and exhausted expressions.

"Yes, Captain. We slept on the couches again," Al told her. "We'll have to stop back at the Hughes' apartment sometime today to shower and change into fresh clothing though," he added, glancing at Edward and Ed nodded in agreement. Three days without a shower wasn't doing him or Al any favours.

"I took the liberty of sorting through the paperwork already, Edward," Hawkeye said, indicating the largest pile in front of her. "While you get started on that, I'll phone General Widdon and see if they want to execute the search warrant on General Mustang's home today," she continued, tactfully ignoring Ed's mutters about what he thought General Widdon should do as well as Al's soft, reprimanding whisper of 'Brother!' as she dialed the extension she needed.

Ed took his seat behind her desk and pulled the paperwork towards himself, stifling another yawn before it could fully manifest as he did so. He reached for his pen and began reading through the first report in the stack as Hawkeye turned her attention back to the call. "Good morning Eleanor. This is Captain Riza Hawkeye. May I speak with General Widdon if he's available?" Ed tuned out the conversation as he dove into the workload in front of him. "Yes, I'll hold," Hawkeye said a touch tersely, but anyone could write it off because of the early hour rather than from annoyance.

Al moved to stand at his brother's shoulder. "Did the others mention what time they thought they'd be in this morning, Brother?" he whispered to Ed.

"Hmm?" Ed looked up from the first report and blinked at Al for a moment. "Oh, around six-thirty or seven, I think they said," he whispered back. Both of them glanced at the clock on the wall which currently read six twenty-five a.m. Al nodded before he moved back over to the desks and picked up several of the pages from where he had left them stacked the night before when they had called it quits and focused on the theory they'd been trying to prove based on the crime scene reports and photographs. Ed returned to the report in front of him while Hawkeye waited patiently on the phone.

"I'm still here," Hawkeye's voice suddenly startled the brothers after nearly two minutes without any sound in the office being that of papers rustling and quiet breathing. "Thank you, Eleanor," she added before there was the faint, but distinctive sound of a click as the call was transferred to another line. A gruff voice barked something indecipherable, but Hawkeye didn't allow it to faze her. "Good morning, General Widdon, this is Captain Hawkeye. Lieutenant Colonel Elric has asked me to inform you that both he and I will be available after eleven a.m. this morning if you and General Combes wished to execute the search warrant on Brigadier General Mustang's residence."

Hawkeye's calm, professional tone and manner was only broken by the annoyance written subtly on her face as she listened to whatever Widdon was saying to her. "Very well, General. We will meet you at _Brigadier General_ Mustang's residence at noon today. Please remember that you are not permitted to enter the actual building without Lieutenant Colonel Elric and me there, as per the stipulations on the search warrant." She paused and listened again. "Goodbye, General." With that she hung the phone up.

"All set?" Ed asked, pausing in his work to look up at her.

"Yes. You and I need to make sure we're there a little earlier than noon," Hawkeye said and Ed nodded in agreement, catching what she left unsaid. She didn't trust the generals not to try something while they were waiting for Ed and Hawkeye to arrive any more than Ed did.

"Sure," Ed agreed easily as the outer door opened to permit the BAU agents, Fuery, and Breda. He looked across the room at them. "Morning," he said, noting the tired agents and soldiers. "Mess hall has really disgusting coffee if you guys are desperate for caffeine," he told them. There was a brief discussion amongst the group before Fuery led Reid, JJ, and Morgan out of the room and to the mess hall to get everyone else coffee. Ed asked for one as they walked away and received something that could have either been a wave of acknowledgment or Morgan attempting to flip him off but being too tired to do so.

"Good morning Ed, Alphonse, Captain," Hotch greeted as he sat down in his claimed spot. Breda, Rossi, and Prentiss followed suit and the room fell back into a comfortable silence once morning pleasantries were exchanged, punctuated only by soft chatter and Ed and Hawkeye's pens scratching on the papers in front of them.

The peace was interrupted by the three missing BAU members and Fuery as they returned from the coffee run. Fuery, Reid, and Morgan were all balancing three cups each. Ed wasn't sure how they got the door open until he realised that JJ was bringing up the rear, only carrying two cups in one hand as she shut the door softly. Fuery handed Al and Breda some coffee while Reid gave Ed and Hawkeye a cup each. JJ handed Prentiss a cup and Morgan surrendered two of the cups he carried to Rossi and Hotch. Once everyone had a cup they joined the rest of the group at the table.

* * *

Fifteen minutes and eleven drained coffee cups later, Havoc and Falman graced the group with their presence along with a multitude of paper bags holding breakfast pastries and muffins. Havoc grinned madly as Ed and Al immediately pounced on the offered food. "We figured Al and the Chief wouldn't have headed back home last night and they know better than to trust anything more than coffee from the mess hall at breakfast, so we decided to drop by a bakery a friend of mine owns and grab some food," Havoc said in response to Hawkeye's questioning look.

"That was very thoughtful of you, Lieutenant. Thank you," Hawkeye said as she picked up a croissant.

"Cheers, Havoc," Ed mumbled around a huge bite of an orange and poppy seed muffin. Hawkeye and JJ both gave him reproachful looks that had Ed swallowing his mouthful and offering a sheepish apology.

"Not a problem, Chief. Figured it was my turn to shout a meal," Havoc said with a grin as he snatched a random bag. He immediately started to devour the contents, waving off the thanks coming from everyone else. Hawkeye grabbed four more bags of food and set them aside.

"For Lieutenant Ross and Sheska," Hawkeye informed them after Havoc raised a questioning eyebrow. Havoc only nodded before snagging another bag from the dwindling pile and eating the pastry inside as he flipped casually through the papers he needed to work on that day in between anything Edward or the BAU team asked of him.

Ten minutes later, the two missing members of their team entered the office. Sheska offered a meek greeting, giving the room a shy smile while Ross saluted both Hawkeye and Edward as she reported for duty. She was dismissed from the salute almost before she could complete it and both women were offered the pastries Hawkeye had saved for them. Sheska sat down opposite Edward and next to Reid as she accepted the food with a quiet word of thanks, while Ross thanked Hawkeye and settled in between Falman and Hotch, the spot she had claimed the night she'd met the BAU. Both women dug into the food eagerly.

"Is the plan to search Mustang's house going to happen today?" Hotch asked once everyone had finished their meal.

"Yup. At noon Captain Hawkeye and I have to meet General Dick and General Douche at Mustang's house," Ed sighed, bending backwards over the back of his chair and hearing some satisfying pops as his spine realigned. There were a couple of hastily covered sniggers from some of the others. "What are you lot doing today?" Ed asked as he brought himself out of his stretch.

"Reid and Morgan are going to be accompanied by Lieutenant Falman to the lab responsible for performing the tests Lieutenant Colonel Brookes has asked for to see where they're at with the results. Rossi, Lieutenant Ross, and I are going to go and talk to Mustang and bring him up to speed before we head to his lawyer's office to discuss the case. JJ will be going through everything that the media has printed in the media about this case to see if there are any possible leads there. She'll also – if she has the time today – be going through the case files herself. Since she's the one who sorts through all of the requests we get for our assistance and chooses the cases we go on, she'll be able to use her unique profiling techniques to see if she can see anything that we might have missed. Warrant Officer Fuery and Lieutenant Breda have offered to help her if she needs it," Hotch said. "Prentiss has plans to continue her interviews with the co-workers, friends, and family of the victims and Lieutenant Havoc will be accompanying her. After they finish with the lab, Morgan and Lieutenant Falman will be meeting Lieutenant Colonel Brookes at his office for the three o'clock meeting with the two guards who were stationed at General Armstrong's scene before Brookes' team arrived."

"So we'll meet up for dinner and discuss what everyone found out and everything that happened today?" Ed asked and Hotch nodded a confirmation.

"What do you want me to do, Brother?" Al asked, and Ed sighed, scratching his chin as he thought about it.

"You can head to the labs if you want, you can go visit Mustang, or you could help Miss JJ," Ed finally answered. "It's up to you."

Al looked contemplative and a little miffed at his brother's response. Most of those in the room who knew anything about the bond and the history between the brothers could tell that Al's irritation was because Ed hadn't said that Al could go with him and Hawkeye to Mustang's house. After a moment of thought, he looked over at JJ. "I think I'll stay here and help Miss JJ, if that's okay?"

"Of course, Alphonse," JJ replied, smiling warmly at the teen.

Al returned it just as brightly. "Thank you." He nodded at her before looking back at Edward. "I want to see if I can learn anything from her that will help us with future cases." Edward grinned at his brother.

"Okay. Like I said, it's up to you," Ed told him before returning to his pile of paperwork after a gentle cough and pointed look from Hawkeye.

Al refrained from chuckling at the sight of his brother hunched over the pile of paperwork with the same look of intense concentration he had on his face whenever he was reading a new textbook or treatise on alchemy. Al wasn't the only one with an amused expression, but everyone else in the room – including the BAU – was quick to find something to do once Hawkeye gave them a look she normally reserved for Mustang. It was the look that told him that he'd better get to work if he didn't want to find himself facing the business end of her weapon.

* * *

Ed was so focused on getting Mustang's paperwork completed that he never noticed when various members of the team started getting up and leaving to carry out their assigned tasks for the day. For the first half hour after everyone finished breakfast, there was a quiet, general reviewing of the information in the files and the information that had been collected the day before. The first ones to leave were Morgan, Reid, and Falman as they headed off the base to the crime lab to check on the results of the tests that were being run on the evidence. Forty minutes after that, Rossi, Hotch, and Maria left so that they could talk to Mustang and his lawyer, Kenneth Lanco, with the hope that they could catch the lawyer on his daily visit to his client.

Prentiss and Havoc left shortly after that, once Hawkeye indicated that most of the officers they were hoping to contact would likely be in their offices and Havoc had had a chance to finish the more urgent paperwork in his daily pile before they headed out to conduct their interviews. That left JJ, Al, Breda, Fuery, and Sheska in the office with Hawkeye and Ed. JJ explained to the others how she wanted to approach looking over the newspapers they'd gathered the day before and they began sifting through the piles of papers.

Just after ten-thirty in the morning, Edward signed the last report in front of him and handed it over to Hawkeye for her to check over. He'd only misunderstood a couple of things in that morning's stack of papers that Hawkeye had caught before he'd signed the reports, and he'd only needed her full help once in decoding someone's handwriting – it had literally made his own chicken-scratch look completely legible in comparison. That file alone had taken them a solid twenty minutes to complete, and if it was a typical example of the sort of work Mustang faced every day, Edward was starting to see why he hated paperwork. As Hawkeye checked over the final report, Ed took the opportunity to look around and almost jumped in surprise when he saw how few people were left in the room and realised that he hadn't noticed anyone leave.

"Very good, Edward. Everything looks like it's in order," Hawkeye told him, offering him a rare, genuine smile.

"Awesome," Edward smiled back before locating his little brother, who had taken over the desk that was _supposed_ to be Edward's, but which he'd rarely ever used. "Hey, Al, you busy right now?" Ed asked, causing the younger Elric to look up from where he'd been helping JJ sort newspaper clippings and articles.

"Why?" Al asked, suspicion tingeing his voice slightly.

"Figured we might as well head back to Miss Gracia's and clean up since I don't need to be anywhere until noon," Ed said, not appreciating the suspicion he'd heard in his brother's voice. He stood up from behind the desk and stretched.

"Oh good idea," Al said before looking apologetically at JJ. "As long as it's okay for me to leave you with this, Miss JJ?"

"Of course. I can handle this, don't you worry," she assured him with a smile, and being rewarded with a sweet, grateful smile from Alphonse.

"Be back here by eleven-thirty, please boys," Hawkeye said as the two brothers made their way to the door.

"Sure thing, Captain," Edward promised, disappearing into the corridor with his brother in tow.

* * *

The two Elrics ran the entire way back to the Hughes' apartment, wanting to get there as quickly as possible so they wouldn't be late getting back to the office. Once they were on the street where the Hughes' apartment building was, they slowed back down to a walk, using the short time to catch their breath and keep an eye on their surroundings, just in case. As they reached the top of the stairs for the floor where the Hughes' apartment was located, Al noticed something taped to the front door and the two brothers stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"Hold on, Al," Ed said, calling up his tracking array. He clapped his hands together and released the energy he'd gathered, sending it forward to cover the apartment. It didn't take very long to check the whole apartment, so once he was done he cut the energy off immediately. "There's no one here." He stalked up to the door and tore the note off, before he turned it over and checked the signature on the bottom.

"Brother?" Al asked when Ed let out an amused huff.

"It's a note from one of Miss Gracia's friends checking on her," Ed said, skimming the note quickly. He shook his head at the overreaction that a simple, well-meaning note had caused. Al let out a chuckle as well while Ed unlocked the front door, and they entered the apartment for the first time since the day after Mustang had been arrested.

Ed knew that Al was doing the exact same thing he was as they walked through the apartment after kicking off their boots. Both of them were checking the apartment for any signs of someone else being inside after Gracia and Elysia had left for Resembool, but neither brother spotted anything out of place. Ed put the note on the kitchen table for Gracia to find when the two Hughes' returned home before following Al down the hallway to their bedroom.

"Do you want to shower first, Brother?" Al asked as he grabbed a set of clean clothes to change into out of his dresser.

"Nah, you go ahead," Ed told him, searching for some clean clothes of his own. Al nodded and left the room and soon enough, Ed heard the shower running. He spared a look at the plain black duffle-bag sitting innocently on the floor at the foot of his bed and sighed. It was the bag that he'd been given by the BAU agents when he and Mustang had left Washington D.C. after their second trip to America, but he couldn't wearing anything in it outside of the apartment unless he wanted to be asked questions about the various pop-culture references on the shirts and hoodies and the material his jeans were made out of. There'd been more things in there besides clothes: several books Reid had suggested to JJ that Ed might like, snacks for Ed to share with everyone that had been suggested by Rossi, and a mobile phone that Garcia had managed to sneak in with a note on how it could be set up and a number to call if Ed found himself in America again with no one around to help him. There had also been some clothing items that Garcia, JJ, and Prentiss had thought Al might like that lived in one of Al's drawers.

Once Ed had found a clean set of his usual clothes, he searched his unmade bed for his tablet that he'd been given by his Voltron friends. He could still feel the Lions in his head, their bond not broken by the distance or dimensional barrier between them somehow, but it was muted. Ed hated the sensation – in just a few short months, he'd gotten so used to having the voices of the Lions in his head, he felt alone in a way he hadn't since he and Al had lost their mother. He knew it was only temporary – just until they had resolved Mustang's case and brought the real killer to justice but that didn't mean he hated the feeling any less.

He pulled his tablet out from underneath a tangle of blankets and ran a finger along the edge of the casing. He hoped the Lions and their Paladins were safe, despite the intense back to back missions they had told him they would be running. Of course, that included Allura and Coran as well. He knew they were likely to be exhausted and would need time to rest once everything was over, which was fine as long as they were all still safe and healthy. Ed didn't know exactly what the missions were about, but they'd promised to tell him all about it once they restored the bond.

"Shower's free, Ed," Al said as he walked into their room, fastening the buttons on his shirt. Ed hadn't even heard the water shut off. A glance at the clock on the nightstand showed that it was ten fifty-five, so he needed to hurry. He grabbed his clothes off the bed and headed for the bathroom, leaving Al to finish getting ready.

Fifteen minutes later, Ed emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed, but still toweling off his hair as he walked into their bedroom. Al was sitting on his bed, pulling on a clean pair of socks. Ed noticed immediately that his brother had tidied up in the room a little, including making both beds. His tablet had been set carefully on the nightstand. Grabbing his comb, Ed make quick work of his hair and with practiced movements had it braided back and tied with a leather thong. He scooped up his tablet and gave the room a quick look-over before he turned his attention back to his brother.

"Al, you ready to go?" he asked, switching his hold on his tablet so he could tuck it securely in a special pocket he had transmuted on the inside of his black jacket. His jacket was a sturdy material, so there was minimal chance of a hole wearing through it and the tablet falling out and getting damaged – though Pidge had promised that the tablet was nearly indestructible – but Ed had made the pocket extra secure by adding a zipper that was nearly invisible once it was closed.

"Yeah, we need to head back now if we're going to make it in time," Al pointed out and Ed glanced at the alarm clock and swore softly. They would be cutting it close, but they could make it back to the office if they left right now.

"Let's go, no time to waste," Ed said, heading straight for the front door. He shoved his feet into his boots, grabbed his signature red coat from where he'd tossed it over one of the hooks on the coat rack, and left the apartment, Al hot on his heels.

* * *

"You cut it very close, boys," Hawkeye said dryly, looking up as Edward and Al entered the office. Her brown eyes glanced pointedly over at the wall clock, which had just ticked over to read eleven-thirty.

"Sorry, Captain. We thought that we had a situation that turned out to not really be a situation after all," Al told her, immediately causing Hawkeye and everyone else in the room to tense up.

"Chill," Ed hastened to reassure them. "A friend of Miss Gracia's left a note on the front door of the apartment, asking if she was alright or something. I checked the signature and recognised the name after I used my tracking array to make sure there wasn't anyone inside waiting for us. Nothing looked out of place when we got inside either." The others relaxed, but not as completely as Ed had hoped. "Seriously, we're fine, the apartment is fine, and we weren't followed to or from the apartment. You can relax." This second assurance worked a little better, but he could still see some underlying tension on their faces.

"As long as you're sure," Hawkeye said. Both Elrics nodded with conviction. "All right then. I suggest we leave now, Edward. I've called ahead for a car to meet us at the front gate in five minutes." She stood up swiftly and pulled her black coat on over her uniform as she did so.

"Sure, Captain. See ya later guys," Ed said, throwing a wave to everyone left in the room as he headed back through the door and out into the corridor with Hawkeye. Al caught the sleeve of his jacket just before Ed moved out of reach and he paused and looked back at his brother.

"Please don't do something that the generals could have you court-martialed for," Al begged his brother.

Ed frowned at his brother. "You know, I _have _perfected the art of being a shit without crossing lines. If I hadn't, Mustang would have court-martialed me years ago. I know how much I can push before it's too much." Funnily enough, Alphonse didn't look completely convinced by his brother's assurance.

"I'll keep him out of trouble, Alphonse," Hawkeye promised, causing Al to relax immediately.

"Thank you, Captain," Al said sincerely. Ed just rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at his brother, causing most of the others who were still in the office to laugh as Hawkeye pulled the door shut behind them.

* * *

To Ed's slight disappointment, it wasn't Sergeant Browning behind the wheel of the military car waiting for them. The young warrant officer introduced herself as Melissa Drayton. She snapped a sharp salute the moment she spotted them approaching. Once she was released from the salute, they gave her the address they were headed for. She took a moment to think about it before nodding confidently, holding the door of the backseat open so that Hawkeye and Edward could climb in before she slid in behind the wheel and started the car, heading for Mustang's house.

Ed watched the route they were taking, utilising his training in memorising unfamiliar routes as buildings flashed past the windows. Ed could only remember visiting Mustang's house once before and that really hadn't been a social call. He smirked when he remembered that the last time he was there he had alchemised his way through the front door, much to his commander's irritation when he'd seen the hole in his door. Of course, his reasons for being there weren't quite as humourous, considering he'd been bleeding heavily from a particularly nasty stab wound to his gut and had been separated from Alphonse by the man who had stabbed him. He'd been too far away from a hospital to get help and Mustang had been the only viable option. His only other choice had been to risk bleeding out before he found Alphonse, and he'd been impatient with how long it had taken Mustang to reach the door. The fact that it was nearly three a.m. didn't matter to him at the time, so he'd blown the door open, causing Mustang to raise his hand to snap instinctively before cursing at Ed when he realised who'd destroyed his front door, and cursing again when he saw the amount of blood saturating his youngest subordinate's side.

"I don't see any car other than Brigadier General Mustang's," Hawkeye observed as Drayton smoothly pulled the car alongside the curb, pulling Edward out of his thoughts as she spoke. Edward spotted one of the two-man team assigned to keep Mustang's house protected from break-ins until the trial was over as the car came to a stop.

Mustang's house wasn't huge, but it was large for only a single person, since Mustang lived alone. Ed knew that the only reason he hadn't rented an apartment or taken advantage of military housing was because he needed room for his alchemic research and materials. There was a decent-sized backyard that acted as a training ground for Mustang to test any new experiments he came up with, which was also the reason why he had chosen a neighbourhood where the houses were spread out a little further from each other, allowing for more privacy.

From what little Edward remembered from the single time he'd been in the house in the past, the two-story house had a decent-sized living room, kitchen, dining room and laundry room on the first floor. The living room doubled as Mustang's private library, housing the alchemic texts he didn't mind having displayed. All of his more sensitive research materials were kept in his upstairs study under lock and key. The upper level of his house was smaller and only had Mustang's bedroom, his study, a spare room, and the bathroom.

"Am I to wait here until you're finished, sir? Ma'am?" Drayton asked once the two of them had climbed out of the car.

"You may go and get some lunch and do anything in town that you need to do, but please be back here in two hours," Hawkeye said when Edward didn't answer immediately.

"Yes, Captain," Drayton said, offering a salute before pulling the car away from the curb and leaving.

"So, what do we do?" Edward asked as he followed Hawkeye up the driveway. He noted a female officer with brunette hair stationed in a shady spot near the front door tracking their approach, her hand moving in the direction of her sidearm.

"We wait until General Widdon and General Combes arrive with their teams, but first we need to brief the guards that Lieutenant Colonel Brookes stationed here about what's happening. Do you want to talk to the guard here or at the back of the house?"

Ed shrugged. "It doesn't matter." Hawkeye nodded once and immediately headed for the side gate that led to Mustang's backyard, so Edward continued towards the officer near the front door. He saw the guard start to move to intercept the captain, but he called out to her. "Captain Hawkeye is just going around back to talk to your partner. We're allowed to be here," Ed told her when she stopped.

"And you are?" she asked suspiciously, her blue eyes narrowing suspiciously, hand still hovering over her gun.

"Lieutenant Colonel Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist," he told her as he drew level with her, only to sigh in annoyance when she immediately saluted.

"My apologies, sir. I didn't recognise you," she replied immediately, her voice shaking slightly from her nerves even as she held the salute, her eyes locked on a point just above his head.

"I'm not surprised, considering that we've never met," Ed told her as he waved her out of her salute. "What's your name?"

"I'm Warrant Officer Lilah Thomas. May I ask why you and Captain Hawkeye are here, sir? Lieutenant Colonel Brookes didn't advise us that anyone other than our relief and he himself would be coming by today." Her nerves were still evident and Ed wondered if she was afraid that he was going to yell at her or discipline her for something.

"Brigadier General Widdon and Brigadier General Combes will be here soon with their teams to execute a search warrant on Brigadier General Mustang's house. Captain Hawkeye and I are here to make sure they don't touch or take anything they're not supposed to or to try and plant false evidence," Ed told her. Her brown eyes widened slightly at how he spoke about the generals.

"Thank you for letting us know, sir," Lilah said gratefully. The guards who rotated with them for this assignment were under standing orders from Brookes that entrance to the house was not permitted under any circumstance unless members of Lieutenant Colonel Elric's team were present. Lieutenant Colonel Brookes had emphasized that it didn't matter what reason they claimed to have – if they weren't accompanied by at least one member of Elric's team, they weren't to go inside.

"Nothing to worry about. You and your partner will be asked to wait out here once the others arrive and then when we're done you can resume your assignment. Sorry for the hassle," Ed told her apologetically.

"It's not a hassle, sir. We appreciate the heads up before General Widdon and General Combes arrive," Lilah said with a small smile as Hawkeye came back around to the front of the house. Ed returned her smile before he joined the captain and they moved to stand under the shady cover of the carport. Ed leaned back against Mustang's car, while Hawkeye stood in a relaxed parade rest.

"They should be here shortly," Hawkeye said after checking her watch.

Ed made an annoyed noise. "Yeah, I'm sure they will be." He knew the trip to Mustang's house had taken them less than ten minutes by car, but only because there was a bit more traffic than usual since it was mid-day and people were out on the road getting lunch. Half the time Mustang walked to Central Command, and it didn't take that much longer by foot than it did by car. That meant there was still fifteen minutes until the generals were supposed to meet them here.

Silence fell between the two of them, but it was a comfortable silence. The two of them had worked together for almost six years at this point, and Edward had never felt the need to be loud or deliberately irritating around the captain the way he was with Mustang.

"Edward, are you all right?" Hawkeye asked.

"Yeah, just going over everything we've uncovered so far to see if something clicks for me," Edward admitted. "I'm still shocked at how well the person behind this has managed to cover their tracks and so perfectly frame Mustang for these crimes. How are you holding up?" Hawkeye had worked with Mustang for over a decade, always one step behind him as his aide and bodyguard. If he was having trouble getting used to the idea that Mustang could legitimately end up in serious trouble for these crimes – and maybe even facing a firing squad if they couldn't find the proof they needed to save him – it had to be that much harder for Hawkeye. Edward still didn't really know the full story as to how Hawkeye and Mustang had met; all he knew was that she had taken the position of his aide a few months after the two of them had returned from Ishval.

She gave him a tight smile. "I'm all right. I would like to get this sorted out so we can get back to our regular jobs." Her smile relaxed a little and became a little warmer when Edward let out an amused huff.

"Yeah, I'm sure Mustang really misses all of his paperwork," he said with a cheeky grin. Hawkeye didn't say anything in response to that, but Edward saw her lips twitch slightly into what was almost a full grin.

"I meant to ask you earlier, Edward, but I wasn't sure how much you'd told your friends from America. Have you spoken again with the Lions and their Paladins since you found out about Major General Andrews' death?"

Edward nodded. "I told them when Mustang was arrested what was going on and after I dropped Miss Gracia and Elysia off at Granny's I muted the bond on my side. They understand why I did it and they were willing to let me since they know how much I can't afford a distraction right now. I felt them stir a little when Al and I went back to Miss Gracia's this morning, but we haven't spoken. I've promised to let them know once this whole mess has been fixed and they said they've got something to tell me as well."

Hawkeye wasn't surprised that Ed had muted the bond, but she was surprised that he had told them what he was going to do. She had thought of the possibility of him accidentally muting the bond while working the case since he'd mentioned that he'd done that a few times in the past when he was completely concentrating on something and tuned out all possible distractions, his brother and the Lions included. She hadn't expected that he would choose to deliberately mute the bond – not after what Mustang had told her about what Edward had gone through when they'd fought alongside the Paladins and Edward had deliberately killed the witch Haggar with his automail blade. It was obvious to anyone who had both seen combat and taken a life that the Lions provided comfort and stability to Edward and kept him from falling into the reckless habits he'd been in after he'd assisted in killing Harding.

"Hopefully, we'll solve this case quickly and you can find out what they wanted to tell you sooner than you think," she said optimistically. Ed smiled at her and opened his mouth to say something when he stopped and cocked his head to the side.

"I think they're here," he told her and sure enough, Hawkeye could hear cars approaching now that she was actively listening for them.

A few seconds later, four military cars appeared, pulling in alongside the curb in quick succession. Widdon and Combes climbed out of one car each, both barking at their drivers to stay in the car while their teams emerged from the other two vehicles, standing at attention in the middle of what counted as Mustang's front yard. Hawkeye and Edward glanced at each other before walking out into the yard and standing just off to the side close to where Lilah was standing.

"I didn't think it was possible for higher ups to be on time – let alone early – for anything," Ed mock-whispered to Hawkeye, making sure his voice was loud enough for the generals to hear him and notice them. He heard Lilah gasp slightly at his words.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric. Captain Hawkeye." Widdon's voice was filled with annoyance, while Combes just glared at Edward.

"Generals." Hawkeye's voice was respectful as she saluted. The generals made her hold the salute for a few seconds before letting her relax out of it. Ed just nodded his head at them once, tersely.

"It's about time the two of you stopped trying to delay the inevitable and quit your petty behaviour," Combes sneered at them.

"Unlike _some_ people, _we_ actually have work to do during the day," Ed told him flatly. "Not to mention the fact that we've also got to do all the investigation that you neglected to do the moment you heard Mustang was a suspect. So, yeah, it's been a bit difficult finding a couple of hours in our day to set aside to babysit you lot when we're too busy trying to catch a killer."

Hawkeye kept her expression carefully impassive. A few members of the generals' teams were doing their best not to show their shock at Edward's insubordination, having not personally witnessed it first-hand before that moment.

"The killer has already been caught," Combes snapped at Edward. "You just don't want to admit that your boss is a cold, calculating murderer." He glared at Edward with disdain.

"You know, I _was_ going to catch the real killer for the typical reasons: to clear an innocent man's name, bring justice to the victims, etc.," Edward rolled his wrist in a 'so-so' motion. "But now I'm going to do it just so I can tell you 'I told you so' and make you admit that once you realised Mustang was a viable suspect, you decided that solving the case wasn't your goal – getting rid of someone the two of you see as a threat is," Ed told them matter-of-factly.

"May I suggest we do what we came here to do, generals? Like Lieutenant Colonel Elric said, we have work we need to be doing," Hawkeye interjected smoothly before either general could say anything in response to Edward's declaration.

"Fine," Widdon said. "Let's get this done with." He stomped towards the front door, but Hawkeye cut him off with a few quick steps away from Edward's side.

"I need to see the search warrant, sir, so that I know exactly what it covers."

"The warrant lets us search the house," Combes growled. "I didn't think, based on your service record, that you'd be the kind of soldier to question higher-ranked officers than yourself, _Captain_." Combes emphasized her rank to make his point, a subtle threat in his voice.

"Captain Hawkeye?" Ed called as he went to stand next to her. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lilah watching him with interest.

"Yes, sir?" Hawkeye didn't remove her eyes from the generals as she answered.

"Please correct me if I'm wrong, but a case can be thrown out of court if it's discovered that those executing a search warrant went beyond the scope of said warrant? Also, I believe it's illegal to not hand a search warrant over to those it is being served to for them to read, yes?" Ed asked, crossing his arms in front of him and staring the generals down.

"That is correct sir. In answer to your first question, the very least that could happen is any and all evidence found in this house would be ruled inadmissible and not permitted to be used should it be prove that they went beyond the limits of the search warrant," Hawkeye said calmly. "As for your second question, sir, refusal to show a search warrant when it's requested is illegal unless the person who requested it is not permitted to view it. As Brigadier General Mustang entrusted me with securing his home on the night he was arrested, and as you are one of the ones required to be present for the house to be searched, we are acting as Brigadier General Mustang's proxies and may view the warrant."

Edward almost grinned when he heard Lilah's whispered 'damn' as he watched Combes' top lip threaten to curl up into a snarl. Widdon managed to keep his face almost perfectly neutral, but they could see the contempt in his eyes as he reached into his inner breast pocket, pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it over to Hawkeye.

"Thank you, sir," Hawkeye said evenly as she took the offered paper. Once the paper was unfolded, she read through the warrant carefully and thoroughly before handing it to Edward so he could read it as well.

As covered by the warrant, the generals and their teams were permitted to search the house and Mustang's personal vehicle and seize any evidence that could be connected to the crimes in question and/or related to the victims, be it personal belongings, notes about Mustang's plans to attack them, or any evidence of blood or potential accelerants that could have been used to burn the victims. They were not permitted to search any room without either Ed or Hawkeye present to oversee them and they were not permitted to go through anything related to Mustang's alchemic research without Ed or Hawkeye watching them. In the event of them coming across something locked or sealed, Ed or Hawkeye was to unlock it or unseal it for them to go through unless the locked item was deemed too unsafe to be unlocked inside the house. Also covered under the warrant was a non-invasive search of the backyard, meaning the soldiers couldn't dig up the ground unless they had probable cause and had obtained a new search warrant to do so. The last thing on the page was Führer Grumman's signature and seal of office, as well as General Widdon's and General Combes' own signatures and seals.

"Okay. There were a few big words in this. I hope you were able to understand it clearly," Ed said, completely straight-faced. "I would hate for you to do something not permitted by this warrant and get this case thrown out." The sarcasm in his voice was obvious and the looks on the generals' faces suggested they were _this_ close to snapping at him. Widdon deliberately turned his back to them in an obvious sign of dismissal that Ed wanted to snort at as he gestured the teams forward.

"My team will be searching the upper level of the criminal's house. General Combes will be searching the lower level. You've all read the warrant and you know your orders," Widdon told the men and women in front of them. Hawkeye stepped forward.

"I will be accompanying those on the lower level of the house while Lieutenant Colonel Elric will be accompanying General Widdon and his men," Hawkeye informed them all before addressing the two generals' teams. "Remember, for anything you seize in this house to be used should the trial go forward, either Lieutenant Colonel Elric or myself must be in the room with you. Also, please keep in mind that this house may have some alchemical transmutation arrays drawn out for research or security purposes. If you find one of those arrays, please don't touch it. Let Lieutenant Colonel Elric know so he can check it and disarm it if necessary. I'm sure you all already know this, but just to be certain, please keep in mind that anything locked or sealed must be brought to either Lieutenant Colonel Elric or me so we can open it."

"Have you finished giving orders to _our_ men, Captain?" Combes sneered. Hawkeye simply fixed him with a flat, impassive stare.

"Small reminders do not hurt, sir," she informed him stiffly before turning sharply on her heel and heading for the front door, Ed right behind her. She paused when she came face-to-face with Lilah, who hadn't moved from her post.

"Warrant Officer Thomas, would you please stand aside while we let these two idiots raid the house?" Ed asked nicely. Lilah didn't say a word, nor did her face betray any expression other than a neutral one, but her deep blue eyes sparkled with amusement as she did as he requested. "Thank you," Ed smiled at her, ignoring the scoff coming from one of the generals – Ed would bet that it was Combes – and allowing Hawkeye to go first towards the front door.

Hawkeye removed a ring of keys from the pocket of her uniform and selected one, inserting it into the lock and opening the front door before stepping aside smoothly to allow the generals and their men to walk through the door and into the house. She and Edward were quick to follow and after nodding to one another, split up to follow the group they would be watching. Ed barely paused in his ascent up the stairs, giving Widdon no time to try anything in the moments he wasn't present. Unlike the first story of the house, the upper level consisted of a single hallway with rooms branching off from it on each side.

Widdon barely glanced at Edward as the alchemist drew level with him at the top of the stairs, although with as much distance as possible between them. "Hill, Sanders, take the room on the left. Kali –" Widdon started issuing orders to his team.

"Not happening," Edward interrupted.

Widdon glared at him. "Excuse me, Elric? Did you just try and negate orders given to my team by their commanding officer?"

"Of course not," Ed sounded appropriately shocked at the mere suggestion. "But how exactly do you expect me to be in multiple rooms at once?" he asked with a mock-polite tone in his voice.

"You don't need to be in multiple places at once, _Lieutenant Colonel_." Ed was _almost_ impressed by how Widdon could turn a rank into an insult. He would have been more impressed if he himself hadn't mastered that ability years ago when dealing with Mustang. "You just need to be present while we execute the search."

Ed gave him the most scandalized look he could muster. "Widdon, I don't know whether you're insinuating that I'm an idiot or if you honestly believe you can try and pull one over on me. That search warrant you handed to Captain Hawkeye – which I also read, in case you somehow missed me reading it – specifically said that Captain Hawkeye or I need to be able to see _all _of the members of your team and the other idiot's team. That means you _cannot_ split up and search multiple rooms. Unless you have a way for me to be able to look through walls, it ain't happening," he said firmly.

"That would mean we'd have to search this floor one room at a time," Widdon told him.

"Oh, good. You aren't as thick as I'd feared you might be," Ed said flatly. Widdon bristled while the group of five soldiers in front of him did an amazing job of not reacting in the slightest.

"Searching the floor room by room would take far longer than having my team split up to cover more ground. You said it yourself, you're very busy. Surely you want to get back to your office sooner?" Widdon tried to appeal to him using Edward's own words.

Ed rolled his eyes at the pathetic ploy. "I'll let you in on a well-known secret, Widdon, since you seem to forget things easily, like the whole 'innocent until proven guilty' concept." Ed didn't miss the way Widdon growled at the not-so-subtle jab. "I'm exceptionally petty, if given the right motivation. That means that I will stand here for _days_ if I have to before I let you try and manipulate me into going around the parameters set up by the search warrant – parameters which you obviously agreed to since you signed and placed your seal on it."

This left the proverbial ball in Widdon's court. If he continued to try to insist that his team split up, everything they found would be thrown out at court, and Ed would certainly report the deviation from the terms of the search warrant to Führer Grumman. His only other options were to follow the terms of the search warrant to the letter or to pull his team back and abandon this pointless and desperate search for non-existent evidence that would prove Mustang's guilt. After a moment of contemplation, Widdon snarled and turned back to his soldiers.

"The room on the left. Get to it!"

The soldiers were quick to follow his order, marching into the room without a word. Ed and Widdon followed, after Ed stared the general down when it looked like he was going to try and wait outside in the hallway.

The room they were searching was Mustang's spare bedroom, by the looks of it. It was rather barren, with only the basic necessities stopping the room from being called empty. The double bed was made of white pine and sat unused against the center of the back wall with a matching white pine bedside table flanking the head of the bed on each side. Cream coloured sheets and a plain, light-blue coverlet covered the mattress and two feather pillows adorned the head of the bed. A matching white pine chest of drawers sat against the left wall and a large oval mirror hung on the wall above it. On the wall to the right was a small white pine wardrobe designed for hanging clothing and a large bookshelf filled with books and journals sitting next to each other. Ed wondered vaguely if Hawkeye or Miss Gracia had something to do with the décor, and he felt a small itch to get his hands on those books, but he decided he would just badger Mustang about it later.

The soldier whom Ed thought was Hill – at least, he was the soldier who'd straightened when the name had been called – had taken the set of drawers and was rifling through them quickly, but efficiently. Ed was a little surprised to see that there was actually stuff in the drawers. It looked like paper and when Ed took a few steps towards the drawers, he couldn't help the grin that crossed his face. It was paperwork from the office, if he wasn't mistaken and he rarely was. He was _so_ gonna tell Hawkeye.

The dark-skinned soldier whom Ed believed was Sanders was knocking on the wall with the back of his fist, checking for any sign of something behind hidden in the wall. Kali – or at least, the one Edward thought was Kali – was making quick work of one of the bedside tables, but it was empty. Still, she checked for a false bottom in the drawer or anything that could possibly be taped to it, going so far as to pull the entire piece of furniture away from the wall. The other two soldiers, both male, were handling the hanging closet – which seemed to be full of heavier civilian clothing more suited for winter weather – and the second bedside table, respectively.

Widdon stood in the middle of the room, glaring alternatively between Ed and his soldiers, looking slightly angrier the longer he went without hearing someone say they found something. Ed sighed quietly and rolled his eyes. This was the first room on this floor and he was already getting annoyed? He prepared himself for a few trying hours as he watched Kali and one of the unnamed soldiers strip the bed with ease, lifting the mattress to check under it and the bed frame. They then searched the mattress for any signs of mended rips or tears, but evidently found nothing and dropped the mattress back on the frame carelessly.

With the bed taken care of, the two of them headed for the bookshelf next and quickly started pulling books out, opening them to shake the pages and tossing them aside when they revealed nothing. With the journals, they skimmed the pages after a poorly hidden look was tossed Edward's way, causing the alchemist to head for the bookshelf so he could look at the journals himself and give them permission to look through them once he decided the contents weren't anything special. Widdon muttered darkly under his breath but didn't say anything when Ed raised an eyebrow at him, silently daring him to speak up. Ed was almost disappointed that he didn't.

After checking the walls, floor, and the entire bookshelf, the soldiers declared the room clear, forcing Widdon to order them to move on to the next room. Ed followed along quietly, watching in fascination as Widdon seemed to get more agitated the longer the blond was silent. The next room they entered was Mustang's study. It was a small room, with barely enough room for the five soldiers to move around in without bumping into each other or the two officers standing in the middle of it. Ed took one glance in this room and nearly drooled over the sheer number of alchemy texts lining the shelves. Immediately, Ed decided he was going to use the 'I helped get you out of jail and did your paperwork' card so he'd be able to get in here for a few days and read everything he could.

The room's walls were lined floor to ceiling with bookshelves, with each bookshelf filled to the brim with alchemic texts and hand-written journals. Here and there, the books were separated by boxes of various sizes and materials. A small window opposite the door allowed natural light into the room, and a sturdy, organised desk was positioned directly in front of it, in the middle of the room so Mustang could face the door and still have access to the bookshelves on any side of him. Much like they'd done in the spare bedroom, Widdon's team split up and tackled different sections of the room.

Hill went for the desk, leaving the other four to take a wall of bookshelves each, although one of the remaining four started checking the floor and the area around the window and door. Edward kept his eyes on the soldiers occupied with the bookshelves more so than with the other two or Widdon. They were giving the contents of the shelves the same treatment they'd given the ones in the spare room and Ed felt a surge of annoyance which grew more with each book that thudded to the floor. When one of the soldiers reached a box he or she would open it, rifle through the contents, and then replace it on the shelf, which made Ed somewhat thankful they didn't decide to treat them like the books. As he had half expected, eventually one of the soldiers came across a locked box and immediately brought it over to where Edward and Widdon stood near the door.

"Sir, this one is locked," the soldier announced, offering the box to the general. Ed rolled his eyes as he watched Widdon try and pry the lid open, even after being told it was locked.

"Open it," Widdon barked, thrusting the box at Ed, who didn't make a move to take it. Instead, he turned towards the soldier.

"What's your name?" Ed asked, and the soldier blinked in surprise.

"Uh, I'm Second Lieutenant Jason Owen, sir," he introduced himself, offering a salute. Ed stopped him before he could complete the action.

"Don't bother with that shit with me. I'm not hung up on my rank like some officers in the military," Ed told him, not even trying to hide the glance he aimed at Widdon, whose anger was becoming more evident. "I have a question for you, Lieutenant." Owen nodded. "Am I a member of your team?"

"Uh, no?" Owen said, looking confused by the question. Ed noticed the other four soldiers halting their search in favour of watching the scene unfold.

"Would you happen to know why your commanding officer is trying to order me around, despite the fact that I'm _not_ a member of your team and he has been repeatedly informed of the fact that I answer to two people – as per my contract – and he and General Combes are neither of those people?" Ed asked, mock-curiosity drenching his voice. Widdon spluttered where he stood and Owen looked like he was contemplating making a rapid escape. "Relax, Lieutenant Owen. I was just making a point, not expecting an actual answer," Ed told him with a note of apology in his voice. Owen looked immensely relieved by that sentence. "Thank you, Lieutenant," he added dismissively so Owen could leave the tense atmosphere, even if it was only a couple of meters away.

The lieutenant damn near fled back to the shelf he had been searching and Ed was a little impressed by his ability to move so quickly. The other four soldiers took one look at Widdon and Ed's staring contest and decided the bookshelves were really important and required their immediate attention. Ed raised one of his eyebrows at Widdon as the man continued to hold the box out for him to take.

"Open it," Widdon repeated, though his voice was forcibly calm, even leaning towards polite. Ed figured it was as good as a 'please' as he was going to get so he took the box.

The box in question wasn't very big, perhaps slightly larger than a shoebox, with a rounded, hinged lid. It was a faded black colour, indicating that it had some age to it, and there was a little bit of rust collected on the hinges and lock. Ed turned it over in his hands, peering at it with a scrutinising gaze to check for any hidden arrays or transmutation marks on it. Finding none, he shrugged and shook his head at Widdon.

"No can do. This one is simply locked and I'm not willing to waste my alchemy on something that Captain Hawkeye likely has a key for." Widdon started to respond, but Ed cut him off before he could. "If Captain Hawkeye doesn't have the key then I'll use alchemy," he offered the small compromise, if only to stop Widdon from complaining.

"Fine," Widdon snapped, snatching the box from Ed's hands and placing it none-too-gently on the now-cleared desk.

They continued searching the room, no one daring to make a sound that wasn't necessary. Whenever the soldiers came across a box that wouldn't open, they handed it over to Ed immediately, rather than risk getting snapped at again by the irate general. Of the roughly two dozen boxes in the room, the soldiers handed fourteen of them to Ed and he opened all but five of them. Those five joined the first box on the desk, waiting for Hawkeye to look at them before he did anything to them. Widdon didn't say a word during this process and eventually the soldiers declared the room clear, although they left the shelves nearly barren, the books tossed in haphazard piles on the floor, much to Edward's irritation. It would likely take hours to put the study back together again.

"Move to the next room," Widdon ordered and the soldiers hastened to obey. Ed brought up the rear of the group as they headed across the hall and spared a thought for Hawkeye. Widdon was the one with the most self-control – such as it was – out of the two of them, and if he was getting this snippy, Ed almost didn't want to know what Combes was acting like right now.

The next room was Mustang's bedroom and Ed hesitated for a moment before following the general and his team over the threshold. This room, much like the spare room, was minimally furnished. There was a bedroom set made of dark walnut which consisted of a king-sized bed, two matching nightstands, a chest of drawers and a bookshelf. Along the right hand wall was a small closet, the door of which was open to reveal a row of Mustang's uniforms as well as several suits of civilian clothing of the type Edward had seen his commander wear a few times when he was off duty. There was also a blanket box at the foot of the bed. The bed was adorned with silver-coloured sheets and a thick black comforter with silver trim. There were two pieces of artwork hanging on the walls, one above the dresser and one above the bed, both apparently done by the same abstract artist, if Ed was any judge of artwork. The top of the dresser had three photographs encased in understated frames and a small collection of miscellaneous items inside a walnut valet box, such as some spare change, a small pocket-notebook and pen, and a couple of pieces of white chalk. Mustang's medals were also sitting there in a velvet presentation box.

Hill and Kali took the dresser and a bedside table respectively, while Sanders, Owen, and the only soldier Ed still didn't have a name for yet stripped the bed, searched the other bedside table and opened the blanket box and began pulling things out of it. Sanders soon finished with the bed – after Owen helped him lift the mattress – and moved on to the closet. Remembering what General Armstrong had said about the missing button, Edward moved over to the closet as well and reached for the line of Mustang's uniforms.

"What are you doing, Elric?" Widdon growled, storming over towards him.

"During an interview that my team did with Lieutenant General Armstrong yesterday, she recalled noticing that the killer's military jacket was missing a button since she could see the light blue dress shirt that the killer was wearing underneath it," Edward said simply, pulling out each of Mustang's uniform jackets one by one and checking the buttons carefully.

Each soldier was assigned the same number of uniforms upon entering the military, and from what Ed could see here, all of Mustang's were accounted for. None of the jackets were missing buttons, but he also checked how the buttons were attached to the fabric, since it was possible – if barely – that a button could have become detached and Mustang had either had it sewn back on or had reattached it using alchemy. Edward had enough experience with mending his own clothing using alchemy to know what marks to look for if that was what Mustang had done.

To his relief, there wasn't any sign of a button being reattached to any of Mustang's jackets, either by alchemy or with a more traditional needle and thread approach. He hung the last jacket back up in the closet and returned to standing near the bedroom door, allowing Sanders to continue checking the closet. Owen moved over to the bookshelf and started searching through the books there. As soon as he did, Ed moved over to join him and make sure he wasn't reading anything too sensitive. Owen gave him a small, unsure smile before getting back to work when Widdon glanced suspiciously at Ed.

Ed was keeping one eye on the journals Owen was going through and the other on the general. He was bemused by how much Widdon was struggling to keep his annoyance at the lack of evidence in check so he couldn't give Ed any kind of ammunition to use against him. It didn't take long for the soldiers to destroy this room as part of the search and declare it cleared, forcing Widdon to move them on to the last room; the bathroom. Ed spared one last glance at the bedroom and was surprised to see the photo frames had been moved but not broken – all in all, this was the least destroyed room that the soldiers had left in their wake, although that wasn't saying much since the bed was still torn apart, and articles of clothing and books had been removed from their normal places and tossed on the floor or other pieces of furniture.

The bathroom was right next to the main bedroom but they weren't connected to one another, which meant they had to go back into the hallway so they could enter the bathroom. It was a decent-sized bathroom, fitting a corner shower and bathtub against the wall. The toilet sat in the corner on the other side of the opened door and there was a sink sitting on a cabinet, under a mirrored medicine cabinet set on the wall. There was an awkward few moments as the soldiers realised the room didn't warrant all five of them to search it. Widdon growled as he realised this as well.

"Owen, Nelson, wait out here. Kali, Sanders, Hill, get to work," he ordered. Lieutenant Owen and the now-identified Nelson moved to flank Widdon where he and Ed stood. The three other soldiers went to work, entering the bathroom.

"Sir, there's a cupboard at the end of the hallway," Nelson suddenly informed Widdon after he'd caught sight of it.

"You two go search it," Widdon barked at them. Ed didn't raise a fuss. He could keep eyes on the split team like this since there wasn't a wall separating them from him.

Owen and Nelson pulled sheets and towels out of the cupboard, shaking them loose before tossing them aside when finished. There were also a few boxes holding items that Mustang obviously had stored which they went through as well. The team in the bathroom was quickly making short work of it as well, going so far as to pull medicine from their packets to see if anything small was hidden in there and opening the bottles of shampoo, shaving cream, and aftershave to make sure that Mustang hadn't hidden some type of accelerant in an innocuous, everyday container. Sanders had the unenviable job of checking the toilet for any possible hidden evidence.

The search didn't last much longer after that. All parties stayed quiet so as to not risk incurring Widdon's anger, with the exception of Ed. He only stayed quiet so he could prove his brother right about knowing where the lines were and when they shouldn't be pushed. He did nothing to hide the smugness he felt as he followed the seething general down the stairs so they could find Hawkeye and figure out the six boxes they hadn't searched.

* * *

Ed wasn't surprised at the level of destruction he saw on the ground floor when he made it down the staircase. Having witnessed the mess Widdon's team left behind them, he would've been more surprised if this level was treated with more respect. The couch cushions had been ripped from the couch and put back haphazardly, with books thrown around in the same manner as the ones upstairs. The coffee table was on its side and Ed could see three boxes sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table in the middle of the chaos.

Ed walked around the mess to step into the kitchen, from where he would have an unobstructed view of the kitchen, pantry, dining room, and laundry. The soldiers on Combes' team had made quick work of their search, obviously unimpeded by the more open floor plan to search multiple rooms at once as soon as the living room had been cleared. Foodstuff from the pantry sat scattered on the floor, bags of rice, flour, sugar and the like had been ripped open and the contents strewn across the floor. Canisters of other staple items such as coffee and dried beans had also been opened and dumped out. A noise caught his attention and Ed cocked his head to listen better.

"They're outside. Let's go," Ed told the six soldiers behind him, but unsurprisingly, no one moved when Widdon decided to stay in his spot.

"You have the same amount of authority over my team as I have over you," Widdon used the same mocking tone Ed had used when he'd questioned Owen earlier.

"Technically true, unless some of the members of your team are ranked lower than I am, which would technically mean I have some amount of authority over them. The exception would be if your orders contradict mine or if they deem my orders too dangerous or illegal," Ed informed him. "However, what you don't realise is that I'm not _ordering_, I'm _suggesting_. You can choose to waste time in here and sulk because you found no evidence of guilt in an innocent man's house or you can come outside with me – so we both stay within the bounds of the warrant – and we can ask Captain Hawkeye for keys that belong to the boxes upstairs and join the search of the backyard that I'm assuming is going on now." Ed gave him his two options in a tone one might use with a small child. Widdon glared at Ed, a look filled with irritation and hate, but Ed merely countered with one of boredom.

"Outside," Widdon eventually snapped at his soldiers, causing the five to flinch slightly before doing as they were told. Ed gave them a slightly apologetic look but no one exchanged any actual words as they walked out of the house.

Ed spotted Hawkeye immediately. She was standing with Combes in one of the few shaded spots the backyard offered though neither looked even the tiniest bit happy about it. Combes' men were scouring the yard, searching through the gardens – what Ed supposed counted as gardens anyway – and searching the objects Mustang must use as target practice.

Widdon and Combes had moved away from Ed and Hawkeye the moment they spotted each other while Widdon's team stuck to Ed, having not received any orders to the contrary from their commanding officer. The blond alchemist noted that Lilah's partner wasn't present and assumed the soldier had been asked to wait with his partner out front until they were finished. Ed caught Hawkeye's gaze, looked at the two generals and pointedly rolled his eyes at them. Hawkeye gave him the least effective admonishing gaze she had ever given him before, causing Ed to grin widely.

"I take it you survived, Captain?" Ed asked quietly. He wasn't sure if the generals had heard him, but Combes did twitch like he had made a movement to turn at the sound of his voice and stopped himself.

"I managed," Hawkeye said drily. "Has General Widdon and his team finished his search upstairs?" she asked and Ed shook his head.

"Technically, no. There's a half dozen boxes that I refused to open on the basis of you possibly having keys for them so I wouldn't have to use my alchemy," Ed told her.

"I see. There are three boxes in the living room awaiting you, sir. I didn't have keys for those and I assumed them to be sealed with alchemy," Hawkeye explained as the generals furiously whispered behind her.

"Yeah, I saw them and figured that. Hopefully they aren't booby-trapped," Ed said nonchalantly, scratching his cheek as he watched the soldiers searching the backyard. "Do you know what's in them?" Ed asked, eyes focusing back on Hawkeye.

"I believe them to hold his completed and more dangerous alchemic experiments, sir," Hawkeye told him. Ed didn't get to answer her because the generals chose that moment to march back over to them and interrupt.

"General Combes' team will be searching Mustang's car. Captain, hand over any keys you have for the boxes located in the study," Widdon ordered. Hawkeye just looked at him.

"Hey, may I borrow the keys, please, Captain Hawkeye?" Ed asked, catching onto the reason behind Hawkeye's silent rebellion.

"Of course, sir," Hawkeye immediately pulled out a small set of keys and handed them to Edward. "If none of these keys fit the boxes, you'll need to use alchemy to open them."

"See what using your manners gets you? And my brother says I have none," Ed scoffed at the generals. Hawkeye allowed an indulgent smile to grace her features before her impassive mask was back in place. Both generals' lips twitched like they wanted to growl but managed to exert some level of self-control at the last moment.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric, if it wouldn't be too inconvenient on your part, perhaps you would be so kind as to escort us back into the house so we can finish executing our search warrant?" Widdon asked with disdain saturating his voice.

"There you go! Now, if you lose the childish attitude, you'd almost pass as civil," Ed told him, his tone falsely encouraging. "I'll meet you out front when we're done, Captain Hawkeye," Ed said, flashing her a grin before heading for the door they'd used to get to the backyard. Hawkeye wasn't sure if she imagined the glint of mischief in Ed's eye as he disappeared behind the group or not.

"Very well, sir," Hawkeye said as Widdon snarled at his team to hurry up while Ed waited patiently at the door, going so far as to hold it open for them as they walked through, or huffed through in Widdon's case. He grinned at the quiet 'thanks' given to him by a few members of Widdon's team as they passed him.

"We might as well start with these, since we know the keys won't work on them," Ed said, deviating from Widdon's determined path to the staircase and crouching next to the three boxes left in the living room. Widdon huffed in annoyance, but didn't bother arguing and let his team fan out slightly to watch Ed.

Ed ignored them for the most part, slipping the small set of keys Hawkeye had given him into an empty pocket so he would have both hands free. Grabbing the box on top of the pile, he started visually taking it apart, looking for any signs of alchemy on it to indicate an array was used to seal it. Spotting some nearly invisible transmutation marks, he started trying to figure out how Mustang could've sealed it; using his knowledge of what kind of alchemy Mustang knew and was somewhat competent in and his own gut instinct to figure out this puzzle.

"What is taking you so long? Stop delaying and just open the damned things," Widdon snapped after a few minutes of silence and Ed doing nothing more than turning the box over in his hands and staring at it.

"I'm sorry, but out of the two of us, who is the alchemist?" Ed asked rhetorically. "If you want me to open these, you'll let me do it my way. Mustang isn't an idiot, despite what you may think, and he wouldn't have sealed these without a reason and I'm not willing to take the chance that the box could have an additional array that causes it to blow up if it isn't unlocked with the right key or array. I will take however damned long I please to open these boxes and you can deal with it. Or I can tell whoever questions me about why Mustang's house was blown to pieces that you didn't allow me the time to do my job. It's up to you." Ed gave him the ultimatum and could see Widdon actually mull over his choices.

"Just hurry up," Widdon eventually huffed irritably, crossing his arms in front of his chest to show his displeasure. Ed didn't bother to hide his eye roll at the man before turning back to the box.

It took Ed a few more minutes before he decided on an array to try. He placed the box away from the others and clapped his hands together, the familiar ring echoing slightly in the room, before placing his hands on the sides of the box and allowing his alchemic energy to dance over the box between his hands. To his slight relief, the lock clicked and nothing burst into flames. Stopping the transmutation, he repeated the process with the other two boxes after checking them over for any signs they weren't sealed differently before he stood up and took a few steps away, inviting the soldiers to rifle through the boxes.

Hill, Owen, and Kali all took a box each and examined the papers and journals inside for anything to do with the murders. Ed hovered nearby, reading over their shoulders to they wouldn't be tempted to try and memorise or take anything stored in the boxes. Widdon looked like he wanted to complain about Ed's behaviour but there was a vindictive excitement in his features. Ed rolled his eyes again when he realised that Widdon was probably assuming the locked boxes must hold some kind of incriminating evidence.

"There's nothing related to any of the victims or the cases in this box, sir," Owen told him, shutting the lid on the box he'd searched before joining Sanders and Nelson back where Widdon stood. It didn't take long before Hill and Kali were stating the same thing. Widdon didn't look happy at all with the news.

"Head to the study," Widdon ordered, turning on his heel and marching to the staircase. His actions reminded Ed somewhat of Elysia stomping away from her mother when Gracia said she couldn't have candy before dinner, which caused him to shake his head as he followed the group up the stairs. They spread out the moment they entered the room and Ed swept past them all, his actions not giving Widdon any chance to try and order him around.

He studied the boxes in front of him before fishing the keys out of his coat pocket and trying each key on each box, only moving onto the next box when he'd either exhausted all the keys or had a key fit and unlock the box. Of the six boxes in the study, two didn't have a key on the ring that fit them. Once he'd unlocked the last box, he put the keys back in his pocket and grabbed the first of the two unopened boxes so he could study it. Satisfied that it and the second one – once he'd inspected it – weren't sealed differently to the three downstairs, Ed clapped his hands and placed one on each box before blue energy crackled across the boxes, unlocking them immediately.

The five soldiers swarmed on the boxes immediately, taking one each and leaving the sixth for whomever finished going through their box first since Widdon didn't make any move to go through it himself, which Ed thought was dumb. The blond alchemist watched as carefully as he'd done downstairs and wasn't surprised that Sanders had been the first to declare his box clear of evidence, so he got the honor of going through the final box.

One by one, the soldiers declared their boxes clear until only the sixth box that Sanders was searching through was the only one remaining. Ed hadn't wanted to look at Widdon, knowing that if he did, he might not be able to contain his laughter at whatever expression the general was making, but he eventually couldn't resist the urge to sneak a glance. Widdon looked like he was pinning all of his hopes and dreams on that one box. Finally, Sanders closed the lid on the box and clicked the lock back in place before he turned to face his commanding officer.

"This box is clear, sir," Sanders told him, face almost as impassive as Hawkeye's.

"What a shocker. Really, I'm surprised," Ed said sarcastically, before clapping his hands together. "Alrighty. I think we've wasted enough time here. I'm sure Combes will be feeling the same disappointment as you very shortly. I _suggest_," Ed emphasized the word, an obvious reference to Widdon's behaviour when he'd assumed Ed was trying to order his men around, "we head out front since Combes volunteered to search Mustang's car. Wouldn't want to miss that," Ed said flatly.

"Get outside," Widdon ordered his team.

Ed was a little shocked at how calm his voice was, but when the man's green eyes met his gold ones briefly, he could see the ice-cold fury in them. Ed had known Widdon and Combes weren't men who would take losing in any kind of situation gracefully, but now he was actually worried about what that could mean for the case now that they've suffered such a massive blow to it. Not finding a single scrap of evidence that so much as _hinted_ at Mustang's supposed guilt in his home or car had thrown a serious wrench in their plans to have Mustang taken care of by manipulating the legal system. Ed also knew that if there was ever a time the two generals would actively try to slow their progress down enough so that the week they had been given by Grumman would result in nothing, it would be now.

Ed was the last one out of the house; the six soldiers he'd been tasked to by Hawkeye were now slightly spread out on the front lawn as Ed closed the front door and locked it. A glance at the street showed an additional military car and a quick look at the driver confirmed that it was Drayton, which meant the two hours Hawkeye had given her were up. A check of his pocket watch confirmed that it had indeed been nearly three hours since they'd sent Drayton off so she wouldn't be sitting in the car, bored out of her mind. Lilah and a very blond male soldier were standing at ease in the middle of the front yard, watching everything.

Ed spotted Hawkeye standing at the opening of the car port in a relaxed stance and headed over to join her, offering Lilah a smile as he went and nodding to the unknown soldier. He observed Combes standing on the left of the car while his men searched the inside of the car, the boot included. As he came up alongside the captain, he noticed that the bonnet of the car was also propped open and he had to give Combes points for his dedication and thoroughness, at the very least.

"Anything to report, Edward?" Hawkeye asked, her voice low as they watched Combes and his team and Ed kept Widdon and his team in his peripheral vision. Ed knew that she was keeping her voice low to maintain the fiction that Edward was the one in charge of the team, since a captain wouldn't be questioning a lieutenant colonel.

"Widdon is a sore loser," Ed told her in an equally low tone, grinning as he handed the keys back to her. "He didn't find anything, of course, but I have a nasty feeling these two might try pressuring Führer Grumman soon to get Mustang put on trial more quickly. They might start becoming more of a hassle the closer we get to reaching the deadline and make things more difficult to try to slow us down."

"I figured as much," Hawkeye pursed her lips in displeasure. She went to say something more but Combes interrupted her unintentionally.

"Anything?" he barked as his men started shutting doors and stepping away from the vehicle.

"No, sir. The car is clean. There's no blood or other evidence to be seen, sir," one of Combes' men informed him and it was exceptionally evident that Combes did not want to hear that news. Ed saw the way his chest inflated and how quickly his face turned a blustering red and put two and two together. Judging from the scared but resigned looks on his subordinates' faces, they knew they were about to be torn a new one, so Ed intervened.

"Well, as lovely as it was seeing you two idiots again – and by lovely, I mean the complete opposite – let's never do this again," he said, loud enough so that Combes would hear him over his anger and Widdon would hear him despite the distance between them. "Since you found absolutely nothing – a real shocker, that – you can all get off Mustang's property and never step foot back on it. Thank you for wasting mine and Captain Hawkeye's time. We'll make sure to share everything you didn't find with the rest of our team. They could probably do with a good laugh."

Both generals immediately puffed up in anger at him. "Mustang is guilty, boy, and you might as well accept it. You won't find anything either because there's nothing for you to find. When Mustang is found guilty, I'll do everything in my power to make sure your contract with the military will never be renewed," Widdon threatened and Ed blinked at him for a moment before letting out a wry laugh.

"Wow, you said that so seriously! Who said I planned on having my contract renewed anyway?" Ed asked with his head cocked to the side. "Actually, I don't care. I believe I told you to leave. But by all means, stay, because I'd love to be able to tell Führer Grumman how you refused to leave upon the conclusion of your search."

"Mustang _will_ go away for the crimes he's accused of. You'd best stay out of our way if you know what's good for you," Combes growled at him as he and his men passed by them, heading for the street and the military cars waiting there.

"Was that a threat, General Combes?" Hawkeye asked, her voice tight and filled with warning.

"If it was, Combes, I suggest you take a few minutes to let yourself remember what we did to the last group of people who threatened us. In case your memory has failed you in your old age, that group were the homunculi and their military supporters." Ed's golden eyes blazed with anger and he made sure to pin both generals with his gaze.

Neither group said anything to the two of them as they glared for a moment before they climbed back into their cars. The two generals had separated themselves and ordered their drivers to head back to the base while their teams took the last two cars and followed, allowing Drayton to let their car crawl along the curb so they didn't have to walk as far to meet her. Before they could though, Ed turned to the two remaining military members.

"Sorry we disrupted your day. How long do you guys have to go on your shift?"

"Only two more hours until Lieutenant Colonel Brookes arrives with the next shift," Lilah told him and Ed nodded.

"Okay. Can you let him know we sealed the house up, please? I don't think we'll be likely to run into him before then," Ed said and Lilah nodded.

"Of course, sir," she said.

"Edward, we need to go back into the house and clean up the spilled food," Hawkeye said. "If we don't, the General will come home to rats and bugs invading his house."

"Don't tempt me Captain," Ed muttered, but nodded. As much as he wanted to get revenge on Mustang for promoting him to lieutenant colonel and for putting all of them through this, having the man come home to an invasion of rats in his house after spending a week in prison _was_ a little much. "I guess we're going back into the house Warrant Officer Thomas. We'll be back in a few minutes."

The two officers nodded and Edward and Hawkeye headed back to the front door. Hawkeye unlocked the door for a second time and together the two of them entered the kitchen. Hawkeye produced a broom and dustpan from a small cabinet in the kitchen and Edward brought the trashcan over before they set to work cleaning up all of the spilled food. The rest of the house would take hours to set back to rights, so it was more important that they at least take care of the kitchen. Once they knew for sure that they would have the evidence they needed to free Mustang, they could come back and restore order to the rest of the house.

Combes' men had been extremely thorough. Any canister that had loose food and wasn't still sealed in the original packaging from the grocer's store had been opened and dumped out on the floor and countertop. Every cabinet had been opened and the dishes removed, the pantry had been riffled through. Ed couldn't help but wonder if Combes had ordered his men to make as much of a mess as they could, especially considering the way the office had looked the morning after Mustang had been arrested, and the way Widdon's men had so carelessly dumped books and papers on the floor.

Working together, they managed to get all of the food cleaned up within a few minutes, but Mustang would need to restock his pantry with a lot of the staple items that had been spilled during the soldiers' search. Finally, Hawkeye put the broom and dustpan away and Edward gathered up the bag from the trashcan. As they left the house, Hawkeye locked the door while Edward took the trash around to the larger bin at the side of the house.

"All finished, sir?" Lilah asked as Edward rejoined Hawkeye at the front of the house, where the warrant officer waited with her partner.

"For now," Edward said. "Thank you for your patience. Have a good day Warrant Officer Thomas and –" Edward cut himself off when he realised he didn't know the other officer's name.

"Sergeant Matt Harvey, sir," the man introduced himself.

"Have a good day, Warrant Officer Thomas and Sergeant Harvey," Ed said with a smile before Hawkeye echoed his words. Both soldiers saluted as they gave their own well-wishes before Ed and Hawkeye dismissed them and they returned to their posts. Together the two of them returned to the car where Drayton was waiting, the back door opened so they could climb in.

"Where to, Lieutenant Colonel? Captain?" Drayton asked.

"My apartment, please," Hawkeye said before giving Drayton the address. "I hope you don't mind, Edward, but I haven't checked on Black Hayate since last night."

"Yeah, that's fine with me," Ed said with a nod and a smile that she returned. They allowed silence to reign for a few minutes as Drayton started the car and pulled away from Mustang's house. Edward finally broke it. "How'd you do with Combes and his team, by the way?"

Hawkeye sighed. "He was very agitated the whole time we were in the house. I had to stop him numerous times from yelling at his subordinates because they couldn't find any evidence of Brigadier General Mustang's non-existent guilt. You saw the mess he allowed them to make. He was the one who ordered them to upend the foodstuffs in the pantry, convinced there was something hidden in the rice or flour." Her tone was the only thing that betrayed her annoyance. "When he decided there was nothing in the ground level of the house, he moved his team to the backyard and tried to order them to start digging. He was…displeased, to say the least, when I reminded him that the warrant stipulated that digging up the yard wasn't permitted." She sighed a second time. "You saw the way he was acting when he had his team search General Mustang's car and how he was about to act when they told him they'd found nothing." She shook her head at the memory of Combes' disgusting treatment of his team. "How did Widdon's search go?"

Ed chuckled a little. "About the same, but Widdon didn't act like he was going to blame his team for not producing something incriminating from thin air, so he had that going for him. He didn't appreciate it when I stopped him from splitting the team up or when I told him I wouldn't be using alchemy on the boxes until I knew you didn't have keys for them. Then he was annoyed with how long it took me to examine the boxes in the living room and decide on an unlocking array that wouldn't blow the box and/or me up." He rolled his eyes before grinning. "I definitely got a few opportunities to be less than respectful towards him, so I was at least mildly entertained for some of it. I was also able to verify that none of Mustang's uniforms were missing any buttons, and none of the jackets had a button that had recently been reattached either with alchemy or with a needle and thread."

Hawkeye shook her head fondly at him before leaning back against her seat slightly. "I find myself glad that I didn't let you escort General Combes."

Ed hadn't really expected her to say something like that, so it took him a moment to say anything in return. "Why's that?" he asked curiously.

"Because I wouldn't have been able to keep my promise to Alphonse to keep you out of trouble if I had," she teased him and grinned slightly when she was rewarded with indignant spluttering from the younger blond. As she listened to his claims that he did know where to draw the line, she allowed herself to wonder how the rest of her team and the BAU had done that day. They were rapidly running out of time to save the General, and after everything that had happened with the Promised Day, the thought of losing him again – especially to a frame job like this – was unimaginable, yet that was the threat they were facing. Mustang and Edward trusted the BAU agents, so Riza was willing to trust them by extension, but there was only so much they would be able to do if they couldn't find the evidence that Brookes had somehow missed.

A/N- Here's chapter 12 for you! I hope you enjoyed the house-search scene as much as I enjoyed writing it. So many thanks to my awesome beta, PhoenixQueen, for her hard work on this chapter and many thanks to those of you who have reviewed this story so far! I would really love to hear what everyone thinks to this chapter and the story so far! See you next week!


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen –**

Morgan had enjoyed the brief down-time after breakfast, spending the time watching everyone else and engaging in some idle chatter with the Amestrian officers before it was time for his small group to leave on their task. Soon enough, about half an hour after the last pastry had been devoured, Lieutenant Falman had indicated that he was ready to head to the lab if they were ready. A nod at Reid had the youngest BAU member ready to go and after a quick goodbye to everyone else – Ed was so caught up in completing his pile of paperwork that he didn't even notice them moving around – they headed out of the office with Falman leading the way.

They elected to walk since – according to the lieutenant – the lab wasn't very far away from Central Command, and it gave the two BAU members a chance to really have a look at the city they were in. The lack of technological achievements was the most blinding difference between this world and their own. There weren't any electric billboards or neon lights on bars, and the cars looked like they were from the early nineteen-hundreds – the types of classic cars Morgan had only ever seen at car shows or in old movies. The buildings were muted in colour and design and there weren't as many advertisements for products as Morgan and Reid were used to seeing. The air smelled cleaner and fresher here than it had ever done in America and Reid suggested that maybe it was due to the fact that Amestris wasn't as advanced as America, which meant there weren't as many factories mass producing cellphones or televisions and polluting the air.

Falman was quiet during the walk, only talking when Reid or Morgan asked him questions directly about some of the things they'd observed. They knew he was listening to them though, so they didn't mind the quiet. When they finally arrived at the lab, Morgan was surprised by how small it was. When compared to the buildings surrounding it, it was quite large, but when compared to some of the crime labs they'd visited during their cases in the past, this building was small. They followed Falman through the front door where they were immediately greeted by a receptionist.

"Good morning, Second Lieutenant. How may we help you today?" she asked, giving them a polite, well-practiced smile after a quick glance at the rank insignia on the shoulder of Falman's blue uniform jacket.

"Good morning, ma'am. We would like to speak to whoever is in charge of testing the evidence that was collected during the recent arson murders," Falman replied his tone even and calmly polite.

"If you would please take a seat, I'll see if Doctor Nesbo is available to talk with you," she offered, gesturing to the comfortable-looking chairs waiting against the wall.

"Thank you, ma'am," Falman said before leading the other two over to the seats while the receptionist picked up her phone. They listened as the receptionist exchanged a few words with someone before agreeing to be put on hold. There wasn't anything else to do as they waited to find out when they could be seen. Reid pulled out a book from his bag and opened it immediately while Morgan shook his head fondly at his teammate.

"Lieutenant?" The sound of the receptionist's voice broke them out of their thoughts and they all looked over at her. "Doctor Nesbo will be able to meet with you in twenty minutes. He's in the middle of some tests and will come out once he's completed them." Falman nodded in acknowledgment and the receptionist uncovered the mouthpiece of the phone and hung up after a short conversation with the person on the other end.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, a man in his early forties walked into the waiting area wearing dark brown pants, a white button-down dress shirt, and a dark green vest, with a lab coat over everything. He said something to the receptionist, too quietly for any of them to hear, but she only nodded in response before directing him over to where they were seated.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Dean Nesbo," the man introduced himself as they stood up at his approach. "It's good to see you again, Warrant Officer –" he glanced at the insignia on Falman's uniform, "– excuse me, _Lieutenant_ Falman. Who have you brought with you?" he asked, looking at Morgan and Reid curiously.

"I'm Derek Morgan and this is Doctor Spencer Reid," Morgan introduced them, nodding at Reid, who gave Nesbo a smile that the man returned.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. What can I do for you?" he asked curiously. It wasn't every day that he was personally asked for by a member of Brigadier General Mustang's team or two unknowns with accents he couldn't place.

"We were wondering if we could talk to you somewhere private about the results of the tests you were asked to run by Lieutenant Colonel Brookes regarding the string of murders which General Mustang has been accused of committing," Falman requested. Nesbo nodded like he'd been expecting that request. Morgan surmised that it wasn't a hard conclusion to reach, considering Mustang's team wasn't working on any other cases right now.

"Of course; we can go and talk in my office, if you'll follow me?" Nesbo suggested, immediately getting agreements from the three investigators. He led them back over to the receptionist desk where they received visitor's passes, before leading them towards a staircase.

The building was only five stories high, and from what they observed as they walked through the second floor towards Nesbo's office, the actual laboratories must have been located on the three floors above them, while the scientists' offices were on the second floor and the secretaries and other employees who weren't permitted to work in the labs were based on the first floor. Nesbo led them to an office with his name on the door, let them go through first, and then entered himself, shutting the door firmly.

"Now, what would you like to know? Lieutenant Colonel Brookes briefed me a couple of days ago about the fact that you might be paying us a visit and giving me permission to share any test results with you," Nesbo told them, hoping to ease any concerns that he'd been ordered to do the exact opposite right from the beginning.

"Thank you," Morgan said. "To begin with, what tests did Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and the coroner ask you to run?"

"We were asked to run tests on anything that was sent to us, including tests on the clothing remnants to see if there was any proof that an accelerant had been used, tests to look for blood and other trace elements on the items recovered from the scenes. We were also to run tests on the blood samples taken from the victims to see if they had been drugged before they were attacked. We were also asked to test the blood samples to see if there was more than one blood type found at the scenes. Finally, we ran tests on the victims' military-issued weapons – if they were carrying a weapon at the time of the attacks – to see if they were fired," Nesbo told them.

"May I ask why you haven't reported any results to Lieutenant Colonel Brookes yet?" Morgan asked.

Nesbo sighed. "Unfortunately, there is no other reason than the fact that we haven't finished running them yet. Our lab has been short-handed since the Promised Day and we had a backlog of cases that needed to be taken care of. We prioritized these cases after we received a call from Führer Grumman, since we were informed that there was a suspect in custody who might be going to trial shortly. When the Promised Day happened, our sister lab was destroyed in the fighting and most of those employed there, as well as a significant number of people working at this lab, were killed. Since then, this smaller lab has been trying to do the work of both labs combined. We've only just recently started testing evidence from cases that were sent to us three months ago."

Morgan looked at Lieutenant Falman curiously. "I thought that Mustang mentioned that his team was trying to save lives on the Promised Day. Why would a crime lab have been destroyed?"

"Stray fire," Falman admitted. "The general's team was trying to keep from taking life unnecessarily, but when the military began retaliating, there was damage and deaths caused that he couldn't control or prevent. There were also some deaths that were related to injuries that were sustained when citizens passed out after the final alchemic transmutation and they were driving or doing something else that normally wouldn't be dangerous. There were also a few people who simply didn't survive the shock of the transmutation."

Morgan noticed that Falman was being careful and deliberately vague with his phrasing, likely because Doctor Nesbo was present. When Mustang had first told them what the Promised Day was, during the hunt for Harding back in New York, he'd made a point of saying that only those who had been involved in helping to combat the ones responsible knew the full details of that day and the events as they took place. He returned his attention back to Nesbo. "Alright, being understaffed is a reason we can understand," he said with a wry smile. "Could you explain any results from the tests you have managed to run?"

"We received the tests from the guns back first. No bullets were found at any of the crime scenes and none of the victims had been shot. There's also no evidence that the guns Colonel Summers, Brigadier General Henley or Major General Andrews were carrying had been fired recently."

Reid noticed a discrepancy in the victims that Nesbo named and pounced on it. "What about the guns carried by Captain Bryce and Major Pardi?"

Nesbo shook his head. "Neither appeared to have been armed on the nights they were attacked. The coroner never found evidence of their holsters on the bodies, and the tests run on their clothing didn't reveal any traces of leather that would have suggested the holders had simply melted or burned beyond recognition. I believe witness statements also corroborate that theory." Reid made a note of that point, frowning slightly. He couldn't remember reading anything like that in the witness statements he had reviewed, but it was possible they had been part of the files that Sheska had read. He'd ask her later, once they got back to Mustang's office.

"Please continue, Doctor," Morgan said politely.

"Of course." Nesbo picked up a file from his desk. "We managed to gather numerous fingerprints at all of the scenes, but they were found in a public alleyway, so identifying them all is both a massive job and not really a priority for this case. What we're doing instead is comparing them to fresh prints taken from General Mustang when he was arrested to either exclude the possibility of him being there or prove that he was there. We're not holding our breath to get a match, however, considering that General Armstrong confirmed that her attacker wore gloves."

"Was that why you took samples from General Mustang's gloves?" Falman asked, his interest piqued.

"Yes," Nesbo responded. "We took fibers from the gloves, as well as swabs from them, to see what we could find. We know the gloves had a special chemical treatment to turn them from standard military-issued dress gloves into ignition gloves. We were hoping that if we found any white silk fibers at the scene, we could test them for the same chemical treatment. So far, none of the fibers that were collected at the scenes seem to match the samples we took from the gloves, but there were six crime scenes and all of the crime scenes were easily accessible to the public and rarely cleaned. We have hundreds of samples to go through, and so far we've barely made a dent." He sighed before picking up the next file. "Another thing we have is an abundance of hair, and right now it looks as though it's going to be as helpful as the fingerprints."

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked, frowning a little. Fingerprints and hair were things that would almost guarantee a conviction in America if they could be linked to a suspect. Why would that not be the case here?

"While we can differentiate between animal hair and human hair, our technology isn't advanced enough to tell us which human that hair came from, other than attempting to make a visual match based on colour, length, and texture. Apparently, the Fullmetal Alchemist has a theory that we could be able to use blood and hair found at a scene to identify people in the same way we can use fingerprints. I'm not sure I understand exactly how it would work, but from what I've heard, he believes there is something in our blood or hair that would be as unique as a fingerprint, however we seem to lack the technology to prove it," Nesbo told them, a note of excitement entering his tone before he resumed his previous professional demeanor. "However, as it stands, right now all we can do is identify what kinds and colours of animals have been in the alley and what humans could be eliminated from being at the scene based on the length and colour. Again, these scenes were very public so it's unlikely that the hairs or fibers alone will be strong enough evidence to help the prosecution with their case."

"Have you started any tests for accelerants on the victims' clothing?" Morgan asked. Nesbo frowned in thought for a moment before he checked the files on his desk again.

"I believe we started on those yesterday. Those tests take a lot longer to produce results than the others we're running," he explained as he opened the appropriate folder. "Our preliminary reports support Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' observations at the crime scene. If there was an accelerant used, it wasn't something obvious like gasoline. In fact, there was no identifiable odor on the test samples other than what you'd expect to smell: burnt flesh, charred cloth, and alcohol. We're obviously running more in-depth tests, but so far, there isn't any evidence to support an accelerant."

"You said there was blood evidence collected?" Reid probed and Nesbo nodded once more.

"Yes, however those tests are still being run as well," Nesbo said apologetically. "One interesting thing we did learn was that all five victims had a high concentration of carbon monoxide in their blood, indicating that they were still alive at the time they were set on fire. As far as identifying the blood samples goes, we have typed them and there are several different ones, however quite a few of the samples were a few days to a few months old, based on the level of decay. Somehow they were saved from being washed away by rain or street cleaners."

"What about the samples that weren't too old?" Morgan asked, jumping on what Nesbo _hadn't_ said.

"Well, they were typed of course. In each case, the victim was found shortly after death. Within a few hours, if I remember correctly. At this time of year, Central is very humid, even during the night. We've found that in those sorts of weather conditions, blood takes longer to dry, which means that we were able to tell which blood samples were the most recent just because of that," Nesbo continued as he flipped through the file. "In the cases of Bryce, Pardi, Summers, Henley, and Armstrong, only one recent sample was found near the bodies."

"But not at Andrews' scene?" Reid asked and Nesbo nodded at him.

"But not at Andrews' scene," he agreed. "It was only a small sample, barely big enough for us to type, but there was a second sample that was the same age as the blood spatter from Andrews. We typed it and the person it came from is O positive, which narrows our suspect pool down to about thirty percent of the entire population of Amestris." Nesbo tried to hide the exasperated tone in his voice, but the other three men could still hear it. Both Morgan and Reid could sympathise with the information being provided, but all in all, not overly helpful.

"Did you take a sample from Mustang to type his blood?" Reid asked, and they could all tell what the response would be just from Nesbo's demeanor.

"Yes, when he was arrested and processed into the holding cells, we obtained a clean sample of his blood as well as a fresh copy of his fingerprints and a hair sample. The blood sample we took from him does type to O positive as well, so it does match the blood found at the scene."

"All right. Do you have a time frame for when you think the tests that are still being performed will produce results?" Morgan asked.

Nesbo sighed and shrugged. "I'm hoping within the next couple of days. As I said earlier, this is now a priority case for us thanks to the request we received from Führer Grumman. We're still running tests on the samples from the gloves Lieutenant Falman brought us as well. If nothing happens to interfere with our tests, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and Lieutenant Colonel Elric's team will have the results before the week is up," he told them with a hopeful smile.

"We'll keep our fingers crossed that everything goes your way," Morgan said with an answering smile.

"We'd appreciate it. Is there anything else I can help with?" Nesbo asked and Reid jumped on the opening.

"I wouldn't mind a tour of your labs, if you have the time to spare. I have a doctorate in chemistry, as well as in a couple of other fields. I might be able to offer a few suggestions that could help you with your cases," Reid asked, ignoring Morgan's affectionately muttered "Nerd", as he looked at Nesbo hopefully.

"I'd be delighted to show you around and pick your brain," Nesbo said with a grin, rising from his seat and moving around his desk to open the door for them.

Morgan groaned as he followed his excitable teammate through the office door, watching Nesbo as he and Reid delved into science talk. Falman was a silent companion, listening to Reid and Nesbo with a similar intensity as Morgan, but he also seemed at least a little bit interested in what they were talking about. Morgan shook his head in fond exasperation as he watched Reid. At least some of them were having fun with all of this.

* * *

Forty minutes after Morgan, Reid, and Falman had left for the labs, Hotch, Lieutenant Ross, and Rossi made their way out of the office. To their complete lack of surprise, Ed didn't notice them leave, but everyone else was kind enough to wish them good luck. Alphonse handed Rossi a pile of newspapers before shaking his head at his brother's complete lack of reaction when the three of them shut the door behind them.

"I knew Ed could be dedicated to his work at times, but I didn't think he'd miss two groups of people leaving the same room he was in," Rossi remarked as they headed for the holding cells to visit Mustang.

"I think you'll find that he didn't notice you because you weren't a threat to him or to anyone around him. During the time when he and his brother were working on decoding Doctor Marcoh's notes on the Philosopher's Stone, he barely reacted when my partner Brosch and I would bring them food, but I've seen him come out of three-day reading binges at the drop of a hat because he perceived a threat near him," Ross confided to them.

They didn't talk much after that observation since the base had started to show more signs of life. Ross led them straight to the holding cells, only offering polite greetings to the soldiers who'd wished her one as they walked past. Hotch and Rossi didn't recognise the soldier posted in front of the building that contained the holding cells, nor the one manning the desk, but they gave her a smile as they signed the visitor's log and checked their weapons before being informed that Mustang was currently visiting with his lawyer and they wouldn't be permitted to go through until the lawyer left.

"Would it be possible to send a message to them and ask if we could speak with them together?" Hotch asked. "Since we're assisting with General Mustang's defense, we have some information we'd like to share with Mr. Lanco."

After a moment's consideration, the officer at the desk nodded and sent another soldier with the message to Mustang and his lawyer. They waited for a few minutes before the soldier returned with word that Lanco and Mustang had both agreed to see them. The soldier escorted them down to Mustang's cell.

"I was told there were six of you," was the first thing the three of them were greeted with as Mustang's cell came into view. Kenneth Lanco wasn't a tall man, but the way he held himself with confidence gave them no reason to think he wouldn't be able to wipe the floor with them. He had piercing green eyes, black hair that was cut short like Alphonse's and a severe look on his face. His clothing was a conservative grey and black three-piece suit, complete with a gold watch chain dangling from his vest pocket, polished black shoes, and a dark green ascot tied around his neck.

"The rest of our team is working on different leads. I'm Aaron Hotchner, the team leader," Hotch introduced himself, offering a hand for the smaller man to shake.

"David Rossi." Rossi's hand was also offered and Lanco was quick to let go of Hotch's and grasp Rossi's.

"First Lieutenant Maria Ross," Ross introduced herself, offering a salute rather than a handshake. Lanco simply nodded in response to that.

"Kenneth Lanco," he told them, a touch sharply. Rossi took the opportunity to hand the newspapers over to Mustang.

"Thank you, Rossi," Mustang said as he accepted the pile of papers and placed them on his cot before facing them again. "It's good to see the three of you. Have there been any new developments?" he asked, barely remembering to offer pleasantries before asking questions. His black hair was even more unruly and he had the beginnings of black circles under his eyes. The wooden restraint around his wrists was leaving red marks on his skin, although there weren't any actual signs of abrasions or sores yet.

"Well, in about three hours, your youngest subordinate and your captain are going to accompany General Combes and General Widdon and their teams to your house so they can search it. I suspect that Edward doesn't have any plans to be more than semi-respectful, if he can help it," Hotch said.

Mustang's face seemed to pale slightly. "At least if Hawkeye's there, my house stands a chance of surviving Edward, Combes, and Widdon being under its roof at the same time," he replied, although Hotch and Rossi thought it sounded more like a prayer.

"We have gathered some more information regarding the case. Unfortunately, it's nothing that is strong enough evidence to exonerate you outright, but certainly there's plenty of information that Mr. Lanco can use to cast reasonable doubt," Rossi told him, leaving the topic of Mustang's house and its future for the moment. His statement certainly got Lanco's attention.

"What information?" he demanded, pulling out a notebook and pen from inside his jacket pocket.

"We believe the unsub – unknown subject, that is – to be petite in build and slightly shorter than Mustang or General Armstrong, as well as being an alchemist. Edward believes that its someone who is perhaps an earth alchemist, but he also told us that nearly every alchemist worth his salt knows earth arrays and could perform them well enough," Rossi told them and Mustang sighed.

"That's true. Earth alchemy is easy enough to learn but challenging enough to weed out those who have alchemic energy but don't have the talent or the inclination to study alchemy and master it, like Moore," Mustang said. "What else did you learn?" He straightened up from where he'd slumped over slightly.

"The unsub used alchemy to create a small barrier wall that he could hide behind when he lured the victim in at both Armstrong's and Andrews' crime scenes. We found no evidence of alchemy used in such a way at Henley's crime scene, but Edward has a theory about why. He thinks Henley wouldn't have fallen for the wounded, helpless victim in a dark alley. He's of the opinion that she was too paranoid and selfish to fall for it, so the unsub lured her in another way – perhaps by offering information about you or Edward so she could escape the charges you wanted to lay against her," Rossi explained and Mustang nodded in agreement after a moment of consideration.

"Knowing Fullmetal as well as I do, I imagine that he used somewhat stronger language in reference to Henley's character," Mustang said wryly. "He hasn't exactly been quiet about his feelings towards her involvement in the Promised Day."

Rossi and Hotch nodded in agreement before Hotch picked up the thread of conversation where Rossi had stopped. "We also believe this unsub has combat training – since General Armstrong stated that her attacker was wearing a military uniform, we can assume that he went through, at the bare minimum, the basic training all soldiers receive – but hasn't had a reason to use the training regularly. He has the skills necessary to take the victims out but we also think that he relied more on an ambush attack, given the blows that the victims sustained to their heads, instead of relying on his training. The only times that he may have had to use his combat training was against Andrews and Armstrong, as evidenced by Armstrong's survival and the signs of struggle we found at Andrews' crime scene."

Mustang looked thoughtful. "A soldier who wouldn't use their combat training – that would imply someone who is in a more administrative position or is based out of one of the major regional command centers rather than on the front lines or out on the borders where we are still having skirmishes with our neighbours. But only combat training? Not stealth?" He didn't draw attention to the fact that he himself was in a more administrative position and was rarely on the front lines, even though he could function in both a combat role and an administrative one, and the agents tactfully decided not to point it out either.

"As far as we can tell, the unsub didn't have stealth training, since General Armstrong told us that he had to muffle his breathing when she kept trying to get back up and he had to keep knocking her back down. She also remembered hearing a surprised gasp when she didn't fall for the trap and the unsub wore a cologne of some kind. I would imagine that someone with stealth training would've meant that he would have more control over his breathing and would know not to wear something distinctive," Rossi said.

"Fair point," Mustang conceded.

"The uniform the unsub was wearing was also missing a button but Brookes couldn't recall seeing a button at any of the crime scenes, so it's likely it fell off at any scene before Armstrong's and the suspect picked it up when he removed any other trace of himself from the scene," Hotch added. Lanco made a disappointed _tsk_ but didn't say anything to interrupt just yet.

"General Armstrong also reported that just before she saw any sparks, she heard a faint scratching noise each time. Do your gloves make any noise when you ignite a flame?" Rossi asked and Mustang truly looked perplexed.

"I don't know. I don't think so. I can't remember hearing them scratch before I snap my fingers." Mustang furrowed a brow in thought. "Most of the snapping sound comes from the flammable gases – like oxygen in the air – igniting explosively. Because of the fabric of my gloves, the sound of my snap is actually kind of muffled." He thought about the question some more. "No, I definitely don't think my gloves make any kind of scratching noise. I've never once noticed it and no one has ever approached me and asked about it," he said definitively.

"Okay. That could help prove your gloves weren't used during these attacks. If we can discredit their use during Armstrong's attack, we can cause reasonable doubt on them being used in the other crimes since the prosecutor's whole case rests on Armstrong's attack being part of the string of murders and her testimony," Lanco said as he scribbled notes on the pages of his notebook.

"Edward did say something else struck him as odd when he was listening to my interview with General Armstrong. When she mentioned the sparks, aside from the scratching noises, he said he's never seen or heard of you struggling to ignite a flame and only producing sparks without actual flame," Rossi said, though his tone seemed to be asking Mustang to confirm or deny what Ed had observed.

"The simplest way to describe how my alchemy works – without revealing all the secrets behind it – is that by rubbing my fingers together, I create a small spark which ignites the oxygen in their air, and the array on my glove activates to turn that spark into the effect I desire. To create just sparks that don't lead to an actual attack is an almost completely useless waste of effort and energy. Sparks are only good for signaling my team when we've been separated somewhere dark, but other than that, it's just a showy waste of energy," Mustang told them. "_If_ I were the one behind these attacks, and more specifically behind General Armstrong's attack, I wouldn't be wasting my time creating sparks for no reason. The only reasons I wouldn't be able to create a flame immediately would be if my gloves were wet – which also means no spark – or if the array was damaged, and again, there would be no spark. If I was the attacker, I'd be more concerned with killing my target immediately so I could lessen my chances of being caught or seen, so I wouldn't waste time making sparks that don't lead to an actual attack," he explained, gesturing with his hands as best he could, considering the restraints around his wrists, to emphasize his points.

"That'll also help, especially since Armstrong's statement says that her attacker made sparks _after_ she heard the first door close inside the building," Lanco told him and Mustang nodded, though he didn't seem pleased that some of his defense was dependent on the fact that he would have killed the victims outright rather than show off.

"Another thing that the team who went to the crime scenes again figured out was that the killer is likely left-handed, from the way Henley's body was found. Edward already told us you were ambidextrous, though," Rossi told them both, wincing a little apologetically at Mustang when he revealed that information. Mustang waved the silent apology off with a sigh.

"I've always been ambidextrous, but I've discovered that my control over my attacks varies depending on which hand I use to snap with. I tend to use my right hand for large explosive attacks, whereas my left hand I have much more accurate, pinpointed attacks. Because most people see me favouring my right hand on a daily basis, they don't expect me to be able to use pinpoint aiming when I attack with my left," he replied, his tone a little annoyed that his ambidexterity would count against him now.

"Given this new information, can you think of anyone who matches the description who would have cause to want you arrested and charged with these crimes?" Hotch asked. He didn't show his disappointment when Mustang shook his head.

"No. I don't know of anyone who matches that description and would have any kind of grudge against me that might give them a reason to want me in jail or facing a firing squad." Mustang sighed a little as he admitted that. Lanco's expression seemed a touch disappointed but didn't let it show for very long.

"Alright. If that's everything you team has uncovered, I'll take my leave for today. I still need to do my job and prepare our defense in case your team somehow doesn't find the real murderer before the military convenes a court-martial," Lanco announced, tucking his notepad back into his jacket.

"Actually, we would love to join you at your office and talk with you about your defense strategy, if you're amiable. I worked as a prosecutor for several years before I found my way into behavioural analysis, and I might have some suggestions for you. There are also a couple of things we'd like to talk to you about," Hotch said and Lanco considered the request for a moment.

"Very well. I'll wait out at the front for you," Lanco said before turning to Mustang. "I'll see you in the morning as usual. In the meantime, try to think of someone who fits the description they gave you, even if you don't think they have a motivation to want you here," he ordered. Mustang looked mildly amused by the fact that he was being ordered around but nodded in agreement. Apparently satisfied with that response, Lanco turned on his heel and headed for the front entrance, after giving a look that clearly told the agents not to keep him waiting for long.

"What else can I do for you?" Mustang asked once Lanco was gone.

"Nothing really. Just do as your lawyer suggested. Come up with a list of names of people whom you think might be behind that, even if you think the chances of them being the one behind this is slim to none," Rossi said and Mustang nodded once. "Do you want anything else?" Rossi asked, gesturing at the newspapers.

"Thank you, but no. These newspapers should last me a little while. Thank you again for bringing them," Mustang replied giving them a small but grateful smile.

"Thank Alphonse. He's the one who gathered them up for you and asked us to bring them," Hotch told him and Mustang huffed out a little laugh.

"I'll thank him when I see him next, then," Mustang answered before nodding in the direction Lanco had gone. "Lanco isn't a man who likes to be kept waiting at all. You should go before he really does leave." His onyx eyes twinkled slightly in genuine amusement.

"We'll do that. We'll see you later, General," Rossi said. Hotch and Ross offered their own goodbyes and Mustang waved at them, somewhat awkwardly because of the restraints, as he watched them head after his lawyer. Once he couldn't see them anymore, he sat back down on his bed, back against the wall and cross-legged on his mattress before grabbing the newspapers and sorting through them before he opened the oldest one and started reading.

* * *

Hotch, Rossi, and Lieutenant Ross were quick to catch up to Lanco and, once they signed themselves out and recovered their weapons, followed the lawyer to his car and hopped in once Lanco invited them to do so. They drove in silence for a couple of minutes before it was broken.

"Mr. Lanco, may I ask you a question?" Hotch asked and Lanco nodded at him. "Why did you agree to defend General Mustang? I can't imagine many lawyers who would've done so, considering the seriousness of the crimes he's been charged with and the rumours about the rest of the high command pushing for his arrest, a speedy trial, and the evidence that's already been gathered by Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and his team."

Lanco's lips curled into a small, sharp grin for a moment. "I could say that I enjoy a challenge, but in reality I owed Mustang a favour and he cashed it in. Admittedly, however, even if I didn't owe him, I likely would have agreed to represent him if he had come to me and asked me to do so."

"Why?" Rossi asked, and Lanco met his gaze in the rearview mirror momentarily before turning his focus back to the road again.

"I made my career defending people who have been screwed over by the military, a greedy company, or other such things. Usually when I'm defending someone against the military, I'm defending my client against one or two high-ranking officers who have let their positions go to their heads. I knew there was something wrong with the government under Führer Bradley, but I never got the opportunity to go after him directly before he died because he was too good at covering his tracks. In Mustang's case, it seems like just about every general here in Central wants him gone. I wouldn't be surprised if nearly every general in the entire military wanted him out of the picture. This time though, I can say for certain the Führer is absolutely not involved in the generals' business, which definitely helps me. Führer Grumman is doing everything in his legal power to make sure Mustang and I aren't railroaded by the generals and that Mustang gets a textbook fair trial, which was a rarity in the military courts during Bradley's reign," Lanco sighed as he made a turn.

"What favour did Mustang do for you that was big enough for you to agree to take his case on, if you don't mind me asking?" Hotch asked, curiously.

"He helped me with a problem I had a few years ago. I think his alchemist – the young one with the automail – had only just come under his command when this happened," Lanco told them as he drove. "I had a client who had been attacked by a general one night. It was just a drunken brawl that several witnesses said the general started. The only thing my client wanted was for the general to pay for his hospital bills, as he and his family were struggling financially. My client spoke to the military police when they showed up to break up the fight, and to the general's lawyer while he was in the hospital and told them he wouldn't press charges if his medical bills were taken care of. Since the bills weren't anything a general couldn't afford but were expensive enough that my client and his children would be reduced to poverty and would have lost their home and been put out on the streets, my client had thought it was a fair deal. The general's lawyer had told his client, who had agreed to the deal, only to then turn around and try to wiggle out of it after the final bill was submitted to him. The general claimed he hadn't done anything wrong and shouldn't be forced to pay for someone else's medical bills just because that person claimed the general had attacked him." Lanco scoffed in annoyance.

"Sounds typical for someone in that kind of position and power," Rossi commented. "What happened?"

Lanco slowed the car to allow some pedestrians to cross the road in front of them. "My client came to me. He'd heard that these sorts of cases were what I usually took on and offered me everything he had to his name if I would help him fight this case. In all honesty, my fees would've been more than the hospital bills and when I pointed that out to him, he told me he wasn't doing this just for the sake of himself and his family, but so he could try and stop the general from doing the same thing – or worse – to someone else. I was impressed by his resolve and took a look at his case. It was straight-forward enough and seemed like an easy enough win, so I took it on pro bono."

"That was admirable of you," Hotch said and Lanco nodded.

"Honestly, I was planning on using the case as a way to further my standing as a lawyer," Lanco admitted casually. "But back to the case. We had just started looking into it and interviewing witnesses, when their stories started changing overnight, practically. Now they were saying that my client had started the brawl. When I pointed out they'd given sworn statement saying the opposite to police – and then reminded them that lying to the police was illegal – they all told me they'd been threatened by someone so they'd keep their mouths shut and wouldn't testify against the general. I had them give me sworn statements and descriptions of the man who'd threatened them, so I could add a claim of witness tampering to the damages we were seeking. One afternoon when I came back to my office, I discovered a letter on my desk telling me to back off the case and threatening my family and friends."

The agents' expressions betrayed the outrage they felt at that revelation. Lieutenant Ross only nodded solemnly, a sad, if angry expression on her face, although she didn't say anything.

"I don't know how he found out, but the next morning, Mustang came to see me. All he said was that he'd heard rumours of the general trying to bully witnesses into changing their story so he wouldn't have to pay my client's hospital bills. He said he had information on the general and the name and location of the man whom the general had hired to "talk" with the witnesses. It turned out that the man hired by the general was a former soldier who had served under the general and had been discharged from the military due to an injury, but he was of the same ilk as the general – throwing his rank and position around. He had a record for a series of petty crimes after he'd been discharged, and some further investigation had revealed that he was wanted for some more serious charges of assault and battery himself. Mustang and his team helped the military police to apprehend him based on the word of some informant of Mustang's," Lanco told them, not even glancing at them to see their reactions as he drove.

"Without his hired man to threaten the witnesses, they all talked during my client's hearing, and the general was forced to pay my client's medical bills in full. I heard that a few months after that, the hired man was tried and jailed for the crimes he'd been arrested for, and the general had been court-martialed and discharged for conduct unbecoming of an officer, battery of a civilian, and witness tampering. What I had thought was a simple suit for the repayment of medical bills garnered enough attention among the military that Führer Bradley was forced to step in and court-martial the general in question. I requested a meeting with Mustang and told him that if he ever needed a lawyer to give me a call. When Major General Andrews' body was discovered, Mustang had Captain Hawkeye call me and put me on stand-by in case they arrested him. That's why I agreed to represent him," Lanco finished telling them.

"I'm glad the general paid for his crimes in the end," Hotch said just as Lanco pulled into a parking space next to a small, two-story building.

"Me too," Lanco revealed. "We're here by the way. Follow me inside. I have some questions for you as well." He opened his door and stepped out of the car, his keys in his hand. He locked the car once they were all out and gestured for them to follow him into the office.

"It seems as though Mustang has made a habit of rooting out corruption in the military – the case you just told me about, the Promised Day…" Rossi mused out loud. "That at least might explain why the generals are pushing for him to be court-martialed so soon."

"Maybe. It's as good a theory as any, I suppose," Lanco agreed.

* * *

Prentiss watched as first Morgan, Reid, and Falman left the office, only to be followed by Rossi, Hotch, and Lieutenant Ross within the hour. Edward hadn't looked up from his paperwork, except to ask Hawkeye a question when he needed to, and she was growing a little bored and ready to get started on her task for the day. She'd managed to interview the co-workers of the first four victims with Lieutenant Havoc's help the previous day.

It helped the Major Pardi's co-workers weren't as numerous as everyone else's, what with him only interacting with his commanding officer's team and a very select few other alchemists on a regular basis. Bryce hadn't been assigned to a team since his conduct meant he'd simply been passed from one command to another when needed. Prentiss shook her head slightly at the fact that the man had never been discharged from the military. It would've saved a lot of headaches, but his behaviour hadn't been bad enough to warrant a discharge, just warnings and reassignment when needed.

A half hour after Hotch, Rossi, and Lieutenant Ross had left with the newspapers Alphonse had given them, Havoc finished the part of his work that was the most pressing and nodded at the door, indicating they could leave. Prentiss didn't hesitate, hopping up out of her chair and joining Havoc at the door to a small chorus of goodbyes from nearly everyone as they left the room.

"Are you sure the rest of your work can wait? Captain Hawkeye doesn't strike me as someone who would be happy with you leaving your work unfinished just so you could escort me to my interviews," Prentiss asked, not wanting the man to get in trouble because he chose to accompany her rather than do her work. She'd heard the others joking about how Hawkeye had a tendency to enforce discipline with her gun, and she didn't want the guilt of Havoc being shot on her conscious, even though she wasn't entirely sure that the Captain would actually do such a thing.

"Nah, Hawkeye's good with it. She okayed me leaving now, in any case, so I'm not in any danger from her gun." Havoc grinned, shoving his hands in his pockets as he strolled along next to her with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. "Where are we heading to anyway?" he asked and Prentiss showed him her notepad of names, some crossed off and some not.

"We need to go talk to anyone who worked with Major General Andrews regularly," Prentiss told him. "Now, I've already interviewed General Widdon and General Combes so I know they won't offer anything new, but I thought we could start with General Andrews' team and get suggestions of who else we should talk to since they'll be the ones who know who he interacted with the most at work."

Havoc nodded in agreement. "As far as I know, General Andrews' team has been kept together until a permanent replacement for him is assigned. For now, they're temporarily under the command of the next highest-ranking officer on the team, Lieutenant Colonel Eloise Lambert. She's doing a good job, but they're still a man short and have to try and cover the same amount of work General Andrews had to do, plus all of their own work, so it's been a bit tough. A lot of General Andrews' work would have been passed down to us since General Mustang is one of his subordinates, but with General Mustang in jail over this, Lambert and her team have been trying to pick up the slack."

Prentiss was confused. "Why hasn't a replacement for Andrews been assigned yet? It's been at least a week since he was killed."

Havoc shrugged. "On the Promised Day, when the bossman staged his coup against the military and helped the chief fight the homunculi, a lot of the higher-ups were either killed or later uncovered to be traitors. The military went through a massive reshuffle and once Lieutenant General Grumman took over as Führer, he went through the whole military staff with a fine-toothed comb. Actually, he still is, since it's a massive job, but he was still forced to promote people in order to fill the ranks so we could keep the country from falling apart completely. Frankly, there really isn't anyone available who can be trusted to do what Andrews was doing and isn't needed in their current assignments. Führer Grumman has to be careful who takes over for Andrews since he was in charge of one of the most powerful branches of the military: The State Alchemists. Grumman can't afford to put just anyone in that kind of position of power. At least according to rumour, General Mustang had always been slated to be Andrews' replacement if the man ever retired."

"How long does Führer Grumman have before he _has_ to find someone?" Prentiss asked as they walked down the corridor towards Andrews' office.

"Technically, Lieutenant Colonel Lambert can stay in charge of their team for a month before a replacement needs to be announced. Chances are that that replacement will keep their own team intact and Andrews' team will be split and placed with other teams. The only reason I can think about for why that wouldn't happen is if the replacement's team is considered too inexperienced in the kind of work that Andrews' team was responsible for," Havoc answered as he led her to a stop in front of a set of double doors. "We're here," he announced unnecessarily, but Prentiss didn't say anything as he raised a fist and knocked before being permitted entrance.

"Good morning, Lieutenant Colonel Lambert," Havoc said as he saluted once they entered the room and shut the door behind themselves. Lambert waved the salute away dismissively. Prentiss had the time to take in the raven-haired woman's slightly frazzled appearance while Havoc made introductions.

"Pleasure. This is Captain Anthony Hurd and Lieutenant Ryan Greene. The rest of our team is out at the moment. What do you need, Lieutenant Havoc?" Lambert asked tersely.

"Miss Prentiss would like to ask you some questions about Major General Andrews, if you have ten minutes to spare?" Havoc explained, unperturbed by the slightly rude behaviour from Lambert.

"Honestly, no. Since General Andrews' death, we've been flat out trying to keep on top of our work. That's what everyone else is out doing – chasing missing reports from State Alchemists, gathering damage reports from other departments, and trying to ensure that the State Alchemist program continues to run smoothly until Führer Grumman appoints a new commander. We really don't have time right now. I'm sorry." Lambert did truly sound sorry and exhausted. Havoc started to say something, but Prentiss stopped him.

"We understand. May I at least ask for a list of names of people whom General Andrews interacted with regularly, both for his job and in his personal life? Anyone whom he saw or talked to at least three or more times in a week or seemed close to?" Prentiss requested and Lambert looked relieved that they weren't going to press the matter. She grabbed a nearby notepad, flipped to a blank page, and scrawled down several names before tearing the page off the pad and handing it to Prentiss.

"General Andrews was based out of West City before he was transferred here after the Promised Day. We transferred with him at his request. One name on that list – Samuel Campbell – was a good friend of General Andrews when he was in West City. He'd be able to give you any names of people who you should talk to in West City, if you need them," Lambert told them and Prentiss gave her a grateful smile as she folded the paper up and pocketed it.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Lambert. We won't take any more of your time. Have a good day," Prentiss said. Havoc said his own goodbye and they left the office quickly before heading a bit down the corridor before stopping so Prentiss could pull the paper out and show Havoc the names.

"Some of these people are here in Central, but the rest are in West City, so we'll have to call them. Do you want to do those first?" Havoc asked and Prentiss thought it over.

"Let's interview those who are here first. We can do phone calls after lunch," Prentiss said decisively. Havoc took another look at the list of names and pointed to the one closest to their current location. Prentiss nodded in agreement before they set off down the hallway.

* * *

There was a total of fifteen names on the list Lieutenant Colonel Lambert had given them. Seven of those names were those of people who were in West City, which left eight people for Prentiss and Havoc to interview in Central. Havoc suggested that they head back to the office and ask JJ and Fuery to join them so they could split up the list and get everyone done more quickly, but Prentiss had vetoed that decision for two reasons: she knew JJ would be busy going over the newspapers and other media that had reported on the case, which meant Fuery would be as well, and she knew that they could talk to everyone on the list before Ed and Hawkeye got back from joining the two generals at Mustang's house.

Prentiss managed to keep her cool, calm, collected mask in place until they walked out of the office of the eighth and final person's office near lunchtime before she let loose a few interesting cuss words, much to the amusement of one Jean Havoc.

"Something wrong, Agent Prentiss?" Havoc asked as he lit up the cigarette he'd place between his lips. Prentiss leveled him with an unimpressed stare before sighing and letting her anger bleed out of her before she actually snapped at Havoc.

"Is that what all of the higher-ups in this country's military are like?" Prentiss asked, gesturing back at the office of the general she'd just interviewed. Havoc made a 'kinda' gesture with his hand and Prentiss sighed again. "I'd honestly hoped there'd only be one or two more like Widdon and Combes," she moaned as they started walking away. Havoc chuckled humourlessly.

"Just remember, these are the ones that _didn't_ join the late Führer Bradley or support his plans, that we know of anyway," Havoc told her and Prentiss' eyes widened slightly at the thought.

"Thank God for that," she muttered. "I couldn't imagine dealing with people _worse_ than them," she divulged to Havoc. She might have grown up in and around politics and chosen a career where she had to deal with some of the worst examples that humanity had to offer, but at least they were usually better at hiding their dark side under a better mask.

All those officers Havoc and Prentiss had spoken to today weren't shy about how much they disliked Mustang and wanted him out of the military for no better reason than so they would only have to keep their under-the-table deals from Grumman. Prentiss almost wished they'd admitted that out loud, but, unfortunately they had been smart enough to simply say they hadn't appreciated Mustang watching them closely, or some variation of that.

"Yeah, the chief hates working with them," Havoc grinned amusedly as he reminisced on the few times he'd been privileged enough to witness Ed interact with a higher up who wasn't Bradley, Grumman, Mustang, or someone like Andrews, whom he'd actually respected and liked.

"Lieutenant Havoc, why do you call Edward 'chief'? Shouldn't Mustang be the chief?" Prentiss asked, remembering that she'd been meaning to ask ever since she'd first heard the titles Havoc had for Ed and Mustang.

"Ah, you didn't know the chief when he first joined our team. He made an art form out of following the bossman's orders but doing so his way. General Mustang might be the boss but Ed proved he was the chief," Havoc told her and she laughed as she imagined a small, twelve-year-old Edward rebelling every which way he could get away with, without technically breaking the rules.

* * *

JJ watched Emily and Lieutenant Havoc leave shortly after Hotch, Rossi, and Lieutenant Ross had left to get started with their day with a slight tinge of envy. She had nothing against staying inside an office all day, but she would admit that she still wanted to be outside and exploring this country as much as she could. There were very few places on Earth she'd only be able to visit once and not have any kind of guarantee she'd ever be able to go back to again. Not many people, outside of science fiction writers could even comprehend the possibility of dimensional travel. She knew that being here in Amestris was a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If Mustang hadn't found himself in this situation, they wouldn't be here and it was as simple as that.

She glanced over at Edward and knew that once the BAU was sent home, it was almost a complete guarantee that they'd never see the blond alchemist, his commanding officer, or anyone they'd met here ever again. She felt her heart grown heavy with melancholy before she gave herself a mental shake to dispel those thoughts. She wouldn't go borrowing heartache from tomorrow if she could help it.

"Miss Jareau?" Fuery's slightly nervous voice interrupted JJ's thoughts and she gave the bespectacled man a warm smile.

"It's just JJ, please. What can I do for you, Warrant Officer Fuery?" JJ asked, sitting up a little straighter.

"Oh, um, you can just call me Fuery, if you want," Fuery offered. "I was just wondering if you needed any help with all of that?" he asked, gesturing to the newspapers that littered the desk in front of her and half littered the desk next to it. JJ had been a little surprised that there were as many newspaper publishers as there were in Central. The main newspaper was one the military owned, but there were nearly a dozen smaller and independent newspapers that weren't attached to the military. Alphonse had gone through them when they'd been delivered and gathered the newspapers they'd had multiple copied of so he could give them to Hotch and Rossi to pass along to Mustang, but JJ had yet to do more than sort them.

So far she'd grouped the papers published by each individual publisher into their own piles, and then she'd organised them by date of publication so she could read the oldest ones first and work her way through to the most recent. She wanted to get a feel for how the case had developed in the news and what had been reported to the public up until the time when Mustang's arrest had broken.

"Thank you Fuery. I'd appreciate the help," JJ smiled warmly at him, causing the younger man to relax slightly and move to sit next to her but she stopped him. "Do you have the time now, or do you have your own work to finish up? I don't want you go get in trouble with Captain Hawkeye for being behind with your actual work." Fuery frowned in thought.

"I'll double check but I think I've gotten everything important done by now," Fuery said, suddenly not sure if he really had done all his usual paperwork.

"Excellent. While you're doing that, I'll start reading and figure out what sections pertain to the case and what doesn't. That's all I'll be doing to start with, anyway. After that I'll start actually reading the information," JJ explained and Fuery nodded, happy to hear he wouldn't be holding her back while he checked on his own work. JJ saw the approving look Hawkeye had given her before the blonde captain turned back to her own work and Edward's progress on the paperwork. Alphonse was sitting with Sheska and Breda for the moment but looked ready to help anyone who asked for it. A glance at the clock told JJ it was near ten o'clock in the morning, so she grabbed the first newspaper and got to work, grabbing the first newspaper on the pile closest to her and opening it.

* * *

Half an hour later, JJ was distracted from her reading and note taking by Edward's small exclamation of victory and Hawkeye's praise. She hadn't noticed that Alphonse had started approaching her – Fuery was still head down in some paperwork he'd accidentally overlooked – until Ed had called out his brother's name and asked if he was busy.

She had to hide a grin at the suspicion lacing Al's voice when he'd asked why his brother wanted to know and Ed's annoyed expression at Al's tone. The younger Elric asked JJ if she'd be fine, which she assured him she would be and spared a few moments to watch them get instructions from Hawkeye before they left the room, shutting the door behind them and racing down the hallway.

JJ noticed Hawkeye shaking her head at the door before the captain went back into her own paperwork, a determined expression on her face, obviously wanting to get everything in front of her done before the boys came back from getting cleaned up. JJ had gone back to her reading when the sound of a throat being cleared had her looking up and finding Fuery next to her once more, fidgeting a little nervously.

"Would you like me to help now? I've finished all of my paperwork now," Fuery offered, shuffling a little where he stood. He was still a little uncomfortable around the BAU even though they were firmly on Mustang's side, same as the team.

"That would be lovely, Fuery. I would really appreciate it. There are a lot more newspaper companies in Amestris than I thought there would be," JJ said warmly as she cleared a spot for him to work beside her. He accepted the seat and pulled a spare notepad towards himself.

"So what are we doing?" Fuery asked once he was situated.

"What we're doing here is reading between the lines of what the papers are saying. Jot down all the times you notice the article leads the reader into assuming Mustang is definitely guilty. Any mention of there being irrefutable evidence tying the accused to the crimes or quotes from military members that seem more informed than they should be. Here," JJ slid her notepad and Fuery took it with a look of confusion on his face, "read through my notes so far to get a proper idea of what I'm looking for." She leaned back in her chair as he did so. There weren't many notes as she'd only been reading the articles for half an hour, so Fuery was able to read through her notes quickly.

"I think I understand what you're doing here. You're trying to see if there's any proof of the military influencing the newspapers to get public opinion on their side," Fuery said once he'd read her notes through.

"Yes, mainly. The other thing I'm doing is seeing if there's any mention of something the papers shouldn't know about. I know Brookes is keeping the fact that Bryce was the first victim close to his chest as well as the fact that all the victims suffered a blow to the head and much of Armstrong's testimony isn't being made public. If the newspapers mention anything they shouldn't know about, it could be further proof of someone in the military talking to the media or the journalist might have been in contact with the killer and not known it," JJ explained and Fuery looked intrigued.

"I see. Where do you want me to start?" Fuery explained and JJ smiled as she handed over a small pile of papers from an independent newspaper that published two issues a week.

"You can start with these," she said, smiling gratefully. Fuery returned the smile, a lot less nervous than it normally would've been before both dove into their work.

* * *

The office door burst open at eleven-thirty on the dot and the five people who were still in the office looked up to be greeted with the slight of the slightly out of breath Elric brothers. JJ and Fuery had still been reading and hadn't heard their footsteps rapidly approach so they were more startled than the others. Hawkeye admonished the teens for nearly being late and JJ felt an icy chill grip her heart when Al told them there'd been a situation, even though she'd never met Gracia and Elysia Hughes. The chilled feeling in her chest lessened when Ed explained what had happened and nearly disappeared entirely when the oldest Elric swore that everything was fine but JJ knew she wasn't the only one now worried for everyone's safety. Ed and Hawkeye left a few minutes later and JJ managed to say goodbye at the same time as the others, her slightly strangled voice covered by everyone else so no one heard her worry.

"Hi, Miss JJ. Can I help you with anything?" Alphonse asked once he joined them at the table. With Hawkeye and Ed gone, only Alphonse, JJ, Breda, Fuery, and Sheska remained. The office was a lot quieter than normal since nearly everyone was focused on their own work. Sheska and Breda had had the idea of creating a small notebook containing all the facts from the files. Breda had suggested it, claiming that writing the information and theories down might help create more leads for them to follow by revealing connections they might not otherwise notice.

"Hello, Alphonse. If you'd like to go over Fuery's and my notes, I'd love to see if you can spot anything we missed once you've read the papers we have," JJ said, giving Al a smile. "After we're done here, we're doing to discuss any other media outlets Amestris has and try to figure out what information they've given out," she told him.

"Sure thing, Miss JJ," Al said cheerily as he settled himself down next to Fuery, offering the second youngest member of Mustang's team a friendly smile as the man handed over his notebook. "Thanks, Fuery," Al said as his eyes darted over the notes. Soon enough, silence once again reigned, only being broken by whispered conversations and the rustling of paper.

JJ barely held back a snarl of annoyance when the office door opened barely an hour after Ed and Hawkeye had left for Mustang's house. She didn't mind interruptions – she was far too used to them back in her little office in Quantico – but that was because those who needed to give her a new file or ask her a question were usually polite enough to knock first. She looked at the door, a reprimand ready on her lips, only to grin as two of her teammates stumbled into the office, bickering with each other. It took a moment for her to figure out what it was that they were actually arguing about.

"We could've been here ages ago if you hadn't asked a million questions!" Morgan said to Reid, whose response was to roll his eyes.

"I didn't ask a million questions. I asked," Reid paused momentarily, "fifty-three exactly. Well, seventy-eight if you include clarifying and general ones," Reid informed him and Morgan looked both annoyed and amused.

"Don't make me hit you in front of everyone," Morgan growled at him and JJ chose that moment to intercede between her quarrelling teammates.

"No hitting, boys," she said sternly, using her best "mum" voice. Both of her teammates paused in their bickering while Falman took the opportunity to slip silently into the room, closing the door softly behind himself before he moved over to sit at his desk.

"What are you guys arguing about?" Al asked curiously and Morgan shot Reid an annoyed look. JJ knew both of them well enough to know that the dark-skinned man wasn't actually annoyed at their youngest team member, however.

"Morgan thinks I spent too long at the labs talking to Doctor Nesbo about everything his labs can do. I _may_ have offered a few suggestions on how they could elevate their labs and tests towards a level that would put them closer to what's considered old news in our dimension, like DNA testing or being able to analyze and identify unknown substances on a chemical level," Reid told him and Al sat up in excitement.

"What did Doctor Nesbo tell you? Brother and I met him once or twice before the Promised Day, but between Brother's missions and my lengthy hospitalisation once the dust settled, we haven't had the chance to catch up with anyone from the labs to see how they're doing," Al explained as Reid moved over to sit next to him.

"Oh my god, there are two of them," Morgan moaned under his breath as he slumped down in the chair he'd claimed as his own. JJ stifled her giggles, but not quickly enough, if Morgan's glare was anything to go by. Al and Reid ignored him as Reid told Al everything he could.

* * *

Reid had finally caught Al up and was now helping JJ, Al, and Fuery with their task when the door opened once more, this time admitting everyone who was still missing save for Hawkeye and Edward. Havoc and Prentiss had done the smart thing and stopped by the mess hall, picking up sandwiches for everyone since they were apparently the only food item that could be trusted not to turn on the consumer, if Havoc was to be believed. The looks on Fuery and Breda's faces told them the claim likely wasn't exaggerated. The BAU agents weren't inclined to doubt the officers, considering they would know better than anyone what the mess hall food was like in Amestris.

"Thank you," JJ said as she accepted the sandwich that was handed to her by Emily. It was a simple ham and cheese one, but she didn't mind, and it tasted pretty good. By the time everyone had been handed a sandwich there were three left over and JJ figured they'd been intended for Hawkeye and Edward, if for some reason they'd arrived in time. JJ also guessed they'd likely not last long enough for their intended consumers and was proven right when Al, Havoc, and Breda had grabbed one more each. Hotch was nice enough to allow everyone to finish eating before speaking up.

"What did you find out at the labs?" Hotch asked, his dark brown eyes flicking between Reid, Morgan, and Falman.

"They're backlogged. They hadn't even started any tests until the day we first met Führer Grumman because they were still playing catch-up on other outstanding cases. The doctor in charge of the labs and our case told us they are still months behind but are slowly getting up to speed. Führer Grumman placed a call and asked them to prioritise any tests that needed to be done for this case so we'd have the results before Mustang is court-martialed, hopefully," Morgan reported immediately.

"They were able to run ballistics on the weapons Summers, Henley, and Andrews were carrying on the nights when they were attacked, but none of them were able to fire their weapons before they were killed. They've collected thousands of hair, fiber, fingerprint, and blood samples between the six scenes, but no one at the lab is hopeful that anything will come from the results of those tests. Their testing abilities are very limited. They can only tell apart human and animal hair, and that's still considered a relatively new technological breakthrough," Reid continued, right on the heels of Morgan's answer and Hotch wasn't the only one of the agents to look upset by the news, although the Amestrians appeared more bemused by their reactions than upset. "When it comes to blood evidence, they can tell what blood type it is and how old the sample is, but that's it. Their limited technology and the fact that the crime scenes were very accessible to the public and rarely cleaned are making the case far more difficult."

"What about any evidence of an accelerant?" Rossi asked, remembering that was something that had been brought up yesterday by the team who had visited some of the crime scenes.

"They started the tests yesterday and will call when they get the results in," Morgan said neutrally, and Hotch didn't do a very good job at suppressing his annoyed sigh. "What about you lot?" Morgan asked, moving the conversation along to the next group's report.

"We spoke with Mr. Lanco and Mustang about everything we've managed to uncover so far but nothing's been jogged for Mustang. He can't think of anyone who fits the slightly more detailed description of the suspect. Lanco has ordered him to try and come up with any names, even if he thinks they wouldn't have any kind of motivation for wanting him out of the way," Rossi told them, leaning back in his chair and relaxing slightly. "Oh, and Mustang wanted us to thank you for sending the newspapers, Alphonse."

"After we spoke to Mr. Lanco and Mustang at the holding cells, we accompanied Mr. Lanco to his office so we could hear about his defense plans for this case, should it end up going as far as a court-martial being convened," Hotch informed them. "Unfortunately, it's a very typical play, with the way the evidence is going in this case. All Lanco can really do with what we know is point out the fact that all the evidence the prosecution has gathered is circumstantial, that Armstrong doesn't know her attacker's identity, and use the information we've given him to try to cast reasonable doubt." Hotch paused for a moment. "I don't know how strong a case the prosecution needs to build in this country to ensure a conviction." He glanced over at the Amestrians. "Does your legal system require the prosecution to hold to the standard of proving their case beyond reasonable doubt, or can they ensure a conviction with a preponderance of evidence or simply with clear and convincing evidence?"

Lieutenant Ross sighed. "As far as I'm aware, as the law is written that it should be beyond a reasonable doubt. However, our military has had corrupt leadership for a least a generation, if not longer. My own personal experience with our military justice system is not favourable, as I believe you're all aware. Führer Grumman is working to bring the justice system back to the way the law is written."

"Honestly, if this case went to trial back home, I wouldn't be confident I could win the case as a prosecutor, but I also wouldn't be confident the defense could win it either," Hotch confided and no one was really surprised by his admission.

"What about you, Prentiss? How did your interviews go?" Rossi asked, and more than a few of those present smirked when Prentiss' lips curled in distaste.

"I hate the politics here. I'd honestly prefer to deal with the politics back home all the time," Emily growled in disgust. "All the generals Havoc and I spoke with today were almost completely transparent in how much easier their lives would be if they didn't have someone like Mustang watching their every move. The only way they would've been completely transparent is if they'd actually admitted they were still doing illegal or immoral things under the table. We didn't learn anything new there either. Lieutenant Havoc and I will be making calls to West City shortly to see whether we can learn anything from associates of Andrews there, but I'm not holding my breath," she added with a sigh. By the time she'd finished speaking, everyone looked sympathetic.

"Good luck with the interviews," Hotch said sincerely. "What time did Edward and Captain Hawkeye leave?" he asked.

"They left at eleven-thirty, sir," Alphonse told him politely. Unlike his elder brother, Alphonse didn't mind using titles, no matter how often the person in question gave him permission to just use their last names or nicknames.

"So we probably shouldn't expect them back for at least a few more hours," Hotch surmised before he turned to JJ. "How's everything on your end?"

JJ shrugged a shoulder. "So far, there's not much to get excited about. The papers we've read so far have only covered up until Colonel Summers and the possible connections between his death and Major Pardi's. We might get more to go on once we've finished reading the papers and spoken about the other kinds of media outlets." JJ told him and Hotch nodded.

"Alright. Prentiss and Havoc have more phone calls to make while Morgan and Lieutenant Falman will be visiting Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes in a couple of hours. The rest of us will stay here and help where we can while we wait for them to finish up and for Captain Hawkeye and Edward to finish at Mustang's house." Hotch told them and got nods in response.

"We might as well go and get started on those phone calls." Prentiss said, completely unenthused, while Havoc stood from his desk.

"Have fun," Morgan called with a teasing grin on his face before laughing when Prentiss' only response was to flip him off as she left the room with Havoc in tow. JJ rolled her eyes at Morgan before turning back to her own task and tuning the rest of the office's occupants out slightly.

* * *

Prentiss allowed Havoc to lead the way to an area that had several phones attached to the walls with thick, plastic partitions on either side of the phones to give the user some semblance of privacy while they spoke to whoever was on the other end of the line. Thanks to their activities the day before, Prentiss was more than accustomed to the way the military made phone calls. She took out the list of remaining names from her pocket and smoothed the paper out so both she and Havoc could see the names clearly before she turned to the lieutenant.

"How confident would you be in questioning some of these people over the phone?" she asked and watched as the blond smoker seemed to jolt in surprise at her question.

"You want me to question them?" he asked, shocked. "Why?" Now he sounded more confused.

"You've spent the majority of today and yesterday helping and observing me with this kind of thing. I'm confident you've picked up enough from those interviews to employ some of those skills to these calls. If you aren't sure you would be able to get the same results as I would, I'll call them all. I just figured you'd like the chance to do more than just stand there and watch me talk on the phone." Prentiss explained and was a little amused to see the faint blush work its way into Havoc's cheeks.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence but I think I'll pass and leave it to you. If the reason for these calls wasn't for something as important as helping the general out, I'd take you up on the offer," he told her, apologetically and Prentiss nodded easily. She'd expected that response.

"If that's what you want, that's alright with me," she told him as she picked up a phone and readied herself to place the call. "Hopefully these conversations are less," she paused, mulling over which word to use, "_vexing_ than the ones we've partaken in today." Prentiss said wryly and the skeptical laugh Havoc couldn't suppress pretty much summed up her own thoughts on the matter.

A/N- And here is 13 for you guys! I sincerely hope you guys enjoy this chapter that my lovely beta, PhoenixQueen, and I worked hard on for you guys and the best way for you guys to express your opinions would be by leaving a review on it. If I'm being honest, I'm a little upset at the fact that the last two chapters have only gotten one review each (many thanks to the lovely reviewer btw!) but this is the same thing that had me putting Spirit Animals on hiatus. Even though I have all the chaps of this story written and practically ready to post, my motivation to do so is lacking because of the lack of reviews. So if you could pretty please let me know what you think to this chapter and the story as a whole so far - even if it's only a sentence or two - that would be absolutely wonderful! See you next week!


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

Morgan and Falman walked purposefully towards Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' office. They were a little early for their scheduled meeting time with the Lieutenant Colonel and the officers who had been assigned to guard General Armstrong's crime scenes. Falman had been the one who had quietly alerted Morgan to the time, since the BAU agent had been too busy trying not to laugh at Prentiss' truly impressive scowl and complaints. His partner had been sporting that particular expression for the entire time that she and Havoc had been back in the office after they'd placed the calls to West City they'd needed to. No one was dumb enough to ask if they'd come up with anything, especially after Prentiss' _creatively worded_ – if short – report to Hotch. Morgan had no doubt that Hotch would question her for more details later, once Emily had been given the chance to calm down, just to be certain there weren't any leads, however thin they might be, that could be deduced from those phone calls.

Falman and Morgan had left the office before Prentiss could find some way to hurt Morgan for his amusement at her expense – without anyone knowing that it was her – a few minutes earlier than they'd planned, which just meant they'd be a little early to their meeting with Brookes. The soldiers and civilian staff they passed along the way mostly ignored them, though there were a few curious looks directed at Morgan before they reached the door to Brookes' office.

Falman knocked on the office door with three sharp raps and paused for a moment before pushing the door open. As they stepped inside, Morgan was a little surprised to realise how empty the room was. Naturally, they hadn't expected Sheska to be there, considering she was knee-deep in paper back at Mustang's office, but they'd still expected to see more than the one person currently occupying it. The rustling of papers and muttered words coming from the small inner office told the two of them that someone – most likely Brookes – was also there, but not in their sight.

"May I help you, Lieutenant?" the female officer seated behind the desk closest to the door to Brookes' private office asked. Her face, while the epitome of impassive politeness, still managed to convey exactly how little patience she had for timewasters. She reminded Morgan of Captain Hawkeye in that moment, and he couldn't help but wonder if all of the female officers within the Amestrian military adopted that sort of air.

"We've been asked to meet with Lieutenant Colonel Brookes at three o'clock today," Falman informed her and she narrowed her eyes at them before consulting an appointment book that lay open on her desk.

"Second Lieutenant Falman and Mr. Derek Morgan?" she asked, and both nodded when she looked up. Her whole demeanor immediately changed to one that was far less hostile and, if Morgan's ability to read expressions was any good, a little bit relieved. She seemed to notice the attention he was giving her. "I apologise for my behaviour if I seemed a little standoffish. There are certain higher-ups who have taken it upon themselves to send members of their teams or other soldiers here for reports on the progress of our investigation." She rose to her feet. "I'm First Lieutenant Kylie Clarke." She offered her and to them and both Morgan and Falman took turns shaking it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Morgan said, giving the red-haired officer a flirty grin that had her blushing faintly and scowling a moment later as she realised how she had reacted to the smile. Falman didn't given Morgan the exact same disapproving look Hotch normally would have, but it was a very good imitation.

"Please wait here for a moment," Clarke requested before she moved over to the door to the inner office. She rapped sharply on the partly open door before stepping inside. The conversation between Brookes and his lieutenant wasn't loud enough for Morgan or Falman to hear what they were saying, even if it had been an interesting enough conversation for them to bother listening in on. Clarke came back a moment later. "You're welcome to wait in the Lieutenant Colonel's office until everyone is present," she told them.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Clarke," Falman said, saluting her before heading for the inner office, practically shoving Morgan ahead of him so that the BAU agent wouldn't have any further opportunity to flirt. He still managed to give Clarke a wink as he was "encouraged" into the office.

Brookes was sitting at his desk, looking very annoyed at whatever was written on the papers in front of him. He only acknowledged Morgan and Falman were in the room when the two men were actually in front of his desk. "You're early," he commented, his brown eyes flicking over to the clock on the wall to confirm that they actually were early for their meeting.

"Yes, we decided to head over a little earlier than we had planned to avoid potential bloodshed between Agents Morgan and Prentiss," Falman replied. Brookes frowned at Morgan in confusion.

"Why would Agent Prentiss want to harm you? Did something happen?"

Morgan waved his hand in a 'kind of' gesture, his eyes glinting with amusement. "Agent Prentiss has spent the better part of yesterday and the majority of today speaking with co-workers of the victims. Today she spent the bulk of the day interviewing those who interacted with Andrews the most. She wasn't able to gather any useful information and has been rather vocal about expressing her opinions on the upper echelon of the Amestrian military – including using some rather colourful and inventive language."

"I'm guessing that she didn't appreciate how humourous you found the situation to be?" Brookes asked knowingly and Falman nodded.

"You would be correct, sir."

"Well, you're welcome to take a seat while we wait for the guards who were assigned to General Armstrong's scene," Brookes indicated the two leather chairs in front of his desk. "Have your teams learned anything new since we last spoke?"

"No," Morgan answered as the two of them settled into the chairs. "Well," he corrected himself, "we did learn why the tests you requested from the crime lab have taken so long and Reid learned a lot about the crime lab in Central, but other than that, we haven't learned anything new or helpful that could point us in the direction of the real perpetrator and get General Mustang out from under these charges."

Brookes looked disappointed, but also unsurprised by Morgan's answer. "I thought your answer would be something like that." He sighed before glancing at his paperwork. "If you don't mind, I need to get this completed before our meeting, so that I can have Lieutenant Clarke deliver it to General Widdon." He glared at the paperwork in a way that reminded Morgan of the banter between Ed and Mustang about Mustang's hatred for paperwork

"May I ask what it pertains to?" Falman asked and Brookes sighed again – although it was more annoyed than resigned this time – as he leaned back in his chair.

"It's an update on the case as it stands today. I have a feeling that General Widdon and General Combes are feeling the pressure from your investigation. In fact," Brookes sat up again and picked up his pen, "a member of my team was temporarily assigned to Widdon for the execution of the search warrant on Mustang's home. He returned a few minutes before the two of you got here to give his report before I sent him on his lunch break." Morgan and Falman both straightened with interest at that information. "He said the search was a bust. They found absolutely no evidence that could be used to connect Mustang to the crimes, even if you tried to stretch the facts as best you could. Lieutenant Owen informed me that Lieutenant Colonel Elric was particularly brazen in his attitude towards the generals, further irritating their bad mood."

"What does that have to do with your paperwork?" Morgan asked, not quite able to stop from cutting Brookes off. To his credit, Brookes didn't seem to mind.

"I believe the generals are going to try to call a meeting of the High Command, Führer Grumman included. No doubt they'll attempt to convince the Führer to renege on his promise to Lieutenant Colonel Elric, and push for Mustang's court-martial to begin immediately. Although the Führer has the final say in the matter, things are still somewhat unstable after the Promised Day. If General Widdon and General Combes can sway enough of the High Command to their side, they might be able to pressure Führer Grumman into going back on his word rather than honor the deal, or else risk unrest and discord within the military. Public opinion of the military is at the lowest it has been since the end of the Ishval War, and it will be difficult for Führer Grumman to maintain power if the military as a whole opposes him, without the citizens getting involved."

"Edward and Mustang never told us that things were still so unstable in his country," Morgan said thoughtfully. "They told us about the Promised Day, of course, but they both indicated that without the homunculi in charge, things were beginning to improve."

"In some ways they have, and the more of the corrupt officers that the Führer removes from the military, the better it gets, but we're a long way from what this country needs to be. If I'm right about the Generals' intentions, Lieutenant Colonel Elric – as Mustang's temporary stand-in – will be forced to attend and they will try to use his inexperience and stubbornness against him. At the very least, they will undoubtedly succeed in wasting a few hours of his and Captain Hawkeye's time. At worst, Grumman might be forced to grant them an immediate court-martial," Brookes told them and was taken aback by the flashes of anger in both men's eyes at the news.

"Edward won't be happy, if your suspicions are correct," Falman ground out, already envisioning the ways Ed might take this news. None of the possibilities boded well for the office furniture.

"I think Ed might surprise you, if this meeting is called and he has to attend," Morgan said, only to shrug when both Amestrians quirked a questioning brow. "I know he's not the type to think before he speaks, but I also think he'd be able to recognise the meeting for what it is: a bullying tactic. He'll be intelligent and savvy enough to respond in a way that will stop the generals in their tracks and help the Führer withstand the pressure."

Falman looked thoughtful for a moment, before nodding cautiously.

"I hope for your teams' sakes – and General Mustang's – that you're correct," Brookes said sincerely. Lieutenant Clarke chose that moment to knock lightly on the door, drawing her superior's attention. "Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Please excuse the interruption, Lieutenant Colonel." She saluted sharply. "Lieutenant Marshall and Sergeant Duiker are here to see you, sir."

"Excellent. Sent them in, please," he requested. The red head nodded before turning on her heel and disappearing from their sight only to quickly return with two men in tow. She held the door open so they could enter, before closing the door behind them, ensuring that Brookes, Morgan, and Falman would have privacy for the interview.

The two men weren't very old. At a guess, Mustang would have put them between Fuery's age and Havoc's age, but both looked nervous about being in the office with two other officers. Morgan studied them for a few moments before deciding that the nerves were just from the uncertainty of the situation and not because they were deliberately hiding something.

"Good afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." The soldier who appeared to be the older of the two said as they saluted Brookes.

"At ease, soldier," Brookes said easily. He rose from behind his desk and stepped around it to stand in front of them. Both officers dropped their salutes and moved into a parade rest stance. "I don't believe we've ever met before," he continued, offering his hand for them to shake.

"Second Lieutenant Timothy Marshall, sir," the first one who'd spoken said as he grasped Brookes' hand.

"Master Sergeant Earl Duiker, Lieutenant Colonel," the younger of the two was quick to shake Brookes' hand, looking at the other people in the room once he'd let go.

"Second Lieutenant Vato Falman." The two new arrivals nodded respectfully, almost bowing slightly.

"Derek Morgan. Consultant for the defense," Morgan introduced himself, offering his hand to shake before Marshall or Duiker could think about saluting.

"Pleasure to meet you both," Duiker said with a hesitant smile before he looked at Brookes. "Sir, if you don't mind us asking, why did you ask for us to meet with you? All our commanding officer told us was that it pertained to a recent assignment of guarding a crime scene." Marshall looked as confused and curious as his partner did.

"Mr. Morgan is part of a specialised team of foreign investigators that have been hired by Brigadier General Mustang's lawyer to assist with his defense," Brookes explained. "Führer Grumman has granted them permission to conduct their own investigation as part of their efforts. After visiting the crime scenes, they've developed a theory based on the evidence we've collected. Mr. Morgan would like the opportunity to ask the two of you some questions in relation to what you saw during the time you were guarding the scene where Lieutenant General Armstrong was attacked," Brookes told them as he rounded his desk and reclaimed his seat, looking a little mournfully at his unfinished paperwork.

"We'll help in any way that we can, sir," Marshall promised.

"Excellent. While the four of you talk, I'll continue with my own work," Brookes said, glancing meaningfully at his paperwork. Morgan didn't doubt for a moment that the man would be able to finish the work on his desk while simultaneously listening to the interview, but Morgan put the Lieutenant Colonel out of his mind as he faced the two soldiers.

Morgan pulled his notepad and pen out of his pocket and flipped it open to a blank page. "The first thing I'd like to establish is the timeline of events," he stated. "When did you first arrive at the crime scene?"

"We were among the first responders, sir. Sergeant Duiker and I arrived on the scene at the same time as the ambulance," Marshall replied immediately.

"About what time was that?" Morgan asked as he noted down the answer.

"I believe we arrived at the scene no earlier than eight o'clock, but no later than eight-fifteen p.m. I don't know the exact time. Sergeant?" Marshall looked to his partner, but the younger man shook his head.

"I don't know for sure, but I think you're right in your estimate, Lieutenant," Duiker said. "Our shift that night started at six, and I know we were on patrol for at least a little while before we were summoned to the scene by the commotion."

"Walk me through the events after you arrived on the scene," Morgan directed them. He could see that they were thrown a little bit by the fact that he hadn't asked a question.

"We were patrolling on the next street over when we heard the commotion," Duiker said. "There was a lot of shouting going on, and we could hear the approaching siren from the ambulance. We arrived on the scene just as the ambulance pulled up, along with a few other officers. We helped to keep the growing crowd from getting too close to the scene so the medics could assess the Lieutenant General and prepare her for transport to the hospital."

"Once she was in the ambulance, we were asked by Captain Bamford, who'd arrived on scene about five minutes after we did, to disperse the crowd, which we did. The captain went to use the closest phone to contact General Widdon and tell him what had happened, since I think everyone at the time was assuming that the attack was connected to the murders," Marshall continued when his partner paused for breath. "He came back to tell us that Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and his team were still busy with Major General Andrews' scene, but they would be informed immediately so that his team could collect the evidence while it was still fresh."

"Captain Bamford asked us to guard the entrance to the alleyway and keep an eye out for anyone suspicious until Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and his team could arrive. We took up positions at the mouth of the alley, since the other side ended in the back wall of another building, so no one would be able to approach from that side. We stayed on guard until Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' team arrived and dismissed us, upon which we resumed our patrol until the end of our shift," Marshall finished.

"Did you notice anything unusual? Was there anything that might have drawn your attention and caused you to leave your post for a minute or more?" Morgan asked. He knew immediately that Ed and Al's theory would be proven correct when both men hesitated to answer him.

"You won't be punished for investigating something suspicious," Brookes assured the men, proving that Morgan's assumption that he was able to multitask was correct. Both officers relaxed a little.

"We thought we heard a noise coming from the alley two buildings down. We dismissed it initially as a stray animal, maybe a cat knocking over an empty tin can or something, but about a minute or two later, we heard the noise again and saw a shadow at the mouth of the alley," Marshall admitted. "When the shadow moved, we both thought it was too big to be a dog or cat, so I went to investigate while Sergeant Duiker moved to stand halfway between the scene we were assigned to guard and the other alley I was investigating."

"I – I didn't pay the crime scene any attention while Lieutenant Marshall was in the other alley," Duiker confessed, eyes flicking downwards in shame. "I was worried the murderer was still nearby, since he'd been scared off before he could kill General Armstrong and clean up after himself." Duiker's eyes stayed glued to the ground in shame, as though he expected to be lectured – or worse – for abandoning his post and being more concerned for his partner's safety than securing the crime scene. "He was gone for nearly two minutes before he came back out of the alley and we resumed our post. I looked behind me to check the scene we were guarding, but nothing looked different or disturbed, and I hadn't heard anything to tell me that someone might've been in there." The officer's voice turned slightly defensive toward the end of his story.

"Why didn't you tell anyone on Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' team about leaving your post when they arrived, Lieutenant Marshall?" Morgan asked, ignoring Duiker's defensive tone for the moment.

"We didn't think it was important. I didn't find anything in the alley or see anyone leave it. I came to the conclusion that it had just been a large dog or cat after all and returned to my post. As Sergeant Duiker stated, I was only gone for two minutes at most, nothing in the crime scene looked different when we returned, and neither of us heard anything coming from the scene," Marshall told them, standing completely straight-backed, ready to take whatever punishment he thought they'd give him.

"You didn't see any bright flashes of light or hear anyone moving in the alley while Lieutenant Marshall was gone?" Morgan pressed Duiker slightly.

"No, sir. Absolutely not. I'd swear to that," Duiker told him earnestly.

"At ease, gentlemen. I believe you," Morgan assured them, who relaxed slightly. "I just want to clarify a couple more details, if I may?" The two officers nodded their agreement. "You arrived on the scene between eight o'clock and eight-fifteen. At what time were you ordered to guard the scene?"

"It was five minutes after nine when Captain Bamford gave us the order," Duiker said with certainty. "The church bells a few blocks over from the scene chimed the hour five minutes before he gave us the order. I think we were on guard at the alley for fifteen, maybe twenty minutes at most," he added. "The bell hadn't rung to chime the half hour before we were dismissed."

"And how long were you guarding the scene before you heard the noise from the next alley and went to investigate it?" Morgan asked.

The two officers looked at each other. "Ten minutes, I believe," Duiker said after a moment of thought and Marshall nodded in agreement.

"That sounds about right. Once Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' team showed up, we were asked for a report. That took maybe ten minutes, so there was at most a half hour between us being ordered to guard the alley and being dismissed," Marshall confirmed.

"My team reported they arrived at the crime scene at nine twenty-five," Brookes offered. "By the time I arrived at ten-twenty, after I went to the hospital with General Combes and General Widdon to try to interview Lieutenant General Armstrong, the members of my team were the only ones present." Morgan was startled to realise he'd forgotten the investigator was even in the room with them.

"We left within ten minutes of your team's arrival, sir," Duiker stated firmly, and Morgan noted that down as well.

"Did either of you enter the alley at all once you were on scene?" Morgan asked, but both men shook their heads. "Not even to aid General Armstrong or the medics attending her?" he pressed and again they shook their heads.

"No. Like Sergeant Duiker said, once we were on the scene our job was crowd control. We didn't step foot in the alley at all," Marshall said with absolute certainty lacing his voice.

"So you didn't notice if there was a small partition a little further into the alley than where they found General Armstrong laying on the ground? A wall about two meters tall and roughly half a meter wall, built from the same material as the wall of the building?" Morgan asked. The perplexed looks on the two soldiers' faces told him what their answer was going to be.

"No, sir. I didn't at least," Marshall said, suddenly sounding unsure about whether he had or not. He paused and thought his answer through. "No, I don't even think I saw General Armstrong before the medics took her away."

"I didn't notice one either," Duiker corroborated after a moment's consideration of the question. Marshall looked a little relieved that his partner hadn't seen something he'd missed. Morgan wrote that down and closed his notepad before placing it in his jacket pocket.

"Thank you very much for your time. I think that's everything I need to know. Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, do you have any questions for them?" Morgan glanced over at the other officer, who looked a little surprised by the question, but he covered his surprise quickly.

"No, I don't. The two of you may return to your normal duties. We appreciate you coming in to talk with us." Brookes dismissed the guards easily, his tone grateful for their cooperation.

"We're happy to assist the investigation in any way that we can. Let us know if you need any more information that we might be able to provide, sirs," Marshall offered, both he and Duiker saluting as he did so.

"Thank you." Brookes smiled and nodded before waving at them dismissively. The two officers nodded to Falman and Morgan before taking their leave, closing the door behind them as they left the office.

Brookes sighed. "I know we expected them to not have noticed anything in the alley, but I had hoped we'd be wrong and they'd tell us they had noticed someone and they didn't report it because they thought Mustang was guilty." His tone was a little ashamed, but Morgan understood why.

A glance at Brookes' wall clock showed that they'd only been here for just over half an hour and Morgan sighed a little. So far, based on what he'd heard from the rest of his team and what Brookes had passed on from his subordinate who'd been involved in the search of Mustang's house, the whole day had given them nothing to show for their work. Morgan wasn't ashamed to admit that fact frustrated him a little. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of help Garcia would've been able to offer if she'd joined them and this world was as technologically advanced as their own. Knowing how determined his tech princess was when a member of her family was threatened; it was highly likely the real killer would already be behind bars solely through her efforts. Unfortunately, she wasn't here, so they would have to do this the old-fashioned way: sorting through data, interviews, and pounding the pavement.

"Thanks for letting us use your office, Lieutenant Colonel," Morgan said, rising from his seat and stretching a little. Falman – who hadn't reclaimed his seat when Marshall and Duiker had arrived – stood a little straighter, ready to leave when Morgan did.

"It wasn't a problem, Agent Morgan. I imagine I'll be hearing from a member of your teams later tonight or tomorrow afternoon some time?"

"Yeah. Hopefully, we'll have something new that will help us get closer to finding the real perpetrator tomorrow," Morgan replied, even though he knew his tone wouldn't inspire much confidence.

"Hopefully," Brookes echoed as he gathered up his finished paperwork. "Come on, I'll walk you out." Falman opened the door so that Brookes could exit his office without having to juggle the thick stack of papers as well as the door. They followed the Lieutenant Colonel out of the office to find that Lieutenant Clarke had been joined by two new faces.

Morgan momentarily entertained the idea of introducing himself to the unfamiliar soldiers but took one look at their workload and determined expressions before deciding to leave the introductions until they weren't quite as busy. Brookes handed his armful of paperwork to Clarke with instructions to deliver it to the appropriate people as soon as she could. The Lieutenant nodded as she accepted the stack, rifling through it to see where it needed to go.

Brookes turned to face Morgan and Falman. "I'll keep in contact with your teams if something happens before the report tomorrow," he promised.

"We'd appreciate that. Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel," Falman said with a salute that Brookes dismissed immediately.

"You're welcome. Have a good night, fellas," Brookes said, giving them a smile – if somewhat forced considering the lack of new information they'd gathered that day – which Morgan returned.

"You as well," Morgan said. Falman dipped his head slightly before the two men left the office, Morgan making sure he gave Lieutenant Clarke a wink and a wave that had the red head flush slightly before she busied herself with her work again. The flat glare Morgan got from Falman when they were in the hallway was worth it.

* * *

It hadn't taken long for Drayton to get Hawkeye and Ed to the captain's apartment building. Despite the fact that he'd been there before a few times, Ed still felt vaguely nervous entering her apartment, like it was some kind of sacred place that he shouldn't be in. Hawkeye didn't appear to notice his hesitation to step over the threshold once she'd unlocked and opened the door.

Any nerves Ed had were quickly gone when he heard the familiar sound of a high-pitched bark from somewhere in the apartment. The sound of nails scrabbling on the wooden floors preceded the appearance of a small black and white dog as he bee-lined straight for his owner, who crouched down with a rare smile on her face and affectionately rubbed behind the pointed ears.

"Hey there, Hayate. Have you behaved yourself?" she asked as the dog leaned into the scratch. Hayate yipped in answer before realising there was a second human in the apartment, and one he knew and liked. He squirmed out of Hawkeye's arms so he could rush over to greet Ed. "No jumping, Hayate," Hawkeye warned, just as the dog went to do that.

Ed was impressed, considering that she currently had her back to them, but he was even more impressed when all Hayate did was let out a small, disappointed whine before sitting nicely in front of Ed. One thing no one argued about in the office was the effectiveness of Hawkeye's training methods.

"Hey Hayate. Long time, no see," Ed greeted the dog, kneeling down in front of the dog. He slipped the glove off of his left hand so he could feel Hayate's soft fur as he stroked his hand over the black and white back. Hayate yipped in agreement before barking in excitement when Hawkeye turned around with his leash in her hand.

"Let's not keep Warrant Officer Drayton waiting any longer. Come on, Hayate. You're coming to the office with us," Hawkeye said as she clipped the leash onto his collar. Hayate _very_ determinedly led the two of them out of the apartment, barely allowing Hawkeye the time to lock the door behind her before he started straining against his leash. A firm word from the captain had him settling down and heeling obediently as they left the building.

Drayton spotted Hayate almost as soon as they exited the building and was obviously restraining her excitement at the sight of the dog, much to Ed's visible and Hawkeye's hidden amusement. The two were soon introduced – an introduction that took a little longer than it should've since to the numerous questions Drayton had about Hayate – and they were back on the road to Central Command, with Hayate calmly seated in Hawkeye's lap and watching the passing scenery out the window.

* * *

By the time they arrived back at the office after bidding Drayton goodbye at the motor pool, it was nearing four o'clock in the afternoon. Black Hayate was enjoying himself, taking in all the scents and sights of Central Command, yipping in a friendly matter at everyone who paused to say hello to him before hurrying on with their afternoon. Hawkeye and Ed walked in companionable silence, only detouring to the mess hall when Ed's stomach reminded him very loudly that he'd missed lunch. Ed munched on his sandwiches as they walked, stooping to give Hayate a small bite every time he thought Hawkeye wasn't looking his way.

He'd finished his sandwiches by the time they'd arrived at Mustang's office, disposing of the rubbish along the way. He hadn't realised that everyone was likely to be waiting when they arrived, so when he saw how crowded the office was, he jumped a little. His reaction, thankfully, went unnoticed even if their entrance didn't.

"I see you two survived an afternoon in the company of the generals. Did everyone else?" Ed couldn't tell if Hotch was joking or not when he asked in a level tone of voice.

"Of course they did," Ed scoffed. "There were too many witnesses around for me to do anything, anyway." He smirked, causing Al to sigh in a long-suffering way while a few of the others (mainly Mustang's team) chuckled as Ed took a seat next to his brother.

"Who did you bring with you, Captain Hawkeye?" JJ asked, bringing everyone's attention back to the captain and the little dog waiting patiently at her feet.

"This is Black Hayate," Hawkeye replied as she shut the door and unclipped Hayate's leach, coiling it up and tucking it into the pocket of her pants. "Hayate, no jumping," she warned the dog as he stood looking at all the new people in the room. "Don't worry. He's friendly unless given an order," she added as they hesitated to greet the small dog. Absolutely no one in the BAU knew if she was joking or not and everyone from Mustang's team managed to keep their amused grins off their faces when the BAU looked to them for confirmation.

Black Hayate began making the rounds of the room, greeting everyone and loving all the attention he got once the BAU recovered from their hesitancy and let him meet them properly. He seemed particularly enamored of JJ and Rossi for no particular reason, going back to those two more often than not. Sheska and Maria had both met Hayate on previous occasions, so he wasn't as interested in them as he was the six newcomers, but he still made sure to greet them. When Falman and Breda were sent to go and pick up dinner for everyone, Hayate started to follow, but a sharp order from Hawkeye had him staying exactly where he was.

"He's very well-trained," Reid commented once the two men had left the office on their mission.

"He's a very quick learner," Hawkeye told them. No one on Mustang's team decided to comment on Hawkeye's training methods, lest they find themselves on the business end of her gun. Ever since Mustang was arrested, Hawkeye hadn't had an opportunity to threaten anyone into working, and no one wanted to be the one to provoke a reaction from her.

Everyone kept themselves entertained until Falman and Breda returned an hour later with enough food to feed a small army. After that, their attention was firmly on the food. Ed was happily proving what an insatiable pit he was, despite having eaten barely two hours ago. Hayate was in love with the new people by the end of dinner, since they were the ones more likely to share their dinner with him than the Amestrian team. After all, they were less likely to be shot for feeding Hayate from their meals.

"Now that we've all eaten," Hotch said the moment the food had been devoured, "I'm sure Edward and Captain Hawkeye would like to be brought up to speed and I know I'd like to hear about how the search of Mustang's house went." He raised a brow at Hawkeye and Ed, and both of them nodded in agreement.

Morgan and Reid went first with their report on what happened during their visit to the crime lab, which eventually devolved into bickering and snide remarks interspersed between actual facts. Hotch didn't reprimand them for it, mainly because it was amusing to everyone and wasn't doing any harm. They wrapped up their report when Al made a comment to his brother about how he'd like to go check on the labs when this was all over and find out whether Reid's suggestions had helped the Amestrian lab techs make any improvements. Morgan started to make a comment of his own when he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Enter," Ed called, frowning at the door. Everyone was here and no one had mentioned anything about someone paying a visit. Black Hayate had risen to his feet from where he'd been lying between Rossi and JJ and was watching the door intently, letting out a sharp warning bark at the soldier who opened the door. The soldier looked a little nervous, and Ed wasn't sure if it was because of the dog, because he had bad news, because of whom he was sent to talk to, or some combination thereof. "Can we help you?" Ed asked, a bit of a bite when a few moments had passed and the soldier made no move to speak.

"Sorry, sir. Sergeant Brody Wallen," the soldier said quickly if a little shakily as he took in the room's occupants nervously. He saluted crisply before returning his attention to Ed. "I've been sent with a message for Lieutenant Colonel Elric or Captain Hawkeye." His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed forcibly.

"We're both here. What's the message?" Ed asked curiously.

"Führer Grumman has been asked to convene a meeting of the High Command currently available in Central by Brigadier General Widdon and Brigadier General Combes. The agreed upon time is at ten a.m. tomorrow, if that is suitable for the two of you, sir?" Wallen relayed, his eyes flicking between Edward and Hawkeye.

Edward frowned slightly as he leaned over towards Hawkeye to speak with her in a low tone that wouldn't carry to Wallen's ears.

"Why am I being asked to attend? I'm not a General or a member of the High Command."

Hawkeye turned her head slightly so she could whisper back, while still keeping Wallen in her line of sight. "You're a stand-in for Brigadier General Mustang, Edward, as well as the highest ranked State Alchemist currently in Central. That means if there's a meeting requiring all of the generals in Central, you're asked to attend in his place, unless the subject matter is something that is truly above your clearance levels." Edward let out a small moan as the two of them resumed their previous positions.

"What's the meeting for?" Edward asked, instead of giving Wallen an immediate answer.

"I don't know all the details, sir, but from what His Excellency told me when he asked me to deliver the message, I believe it has something to do with the upcoming court martial of former Brigadier General Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' investigation into the case."

Edward exchange glances with Hawkeye and Hotch, neither of whom looked like they thought this meeting would have a good result before he returned his attention to Wallen. "Very well. Please tell Führer Grumman that both Captain Hawkeye and I will be in attendance. I assume the meeting will be held in the conference room attached to his office?"

"Yes, sir," Wallen said, nodding a little too enthusiastically. "I'm sorry for interrupting your night, sir," he added with a salute.

"Don't worry about it. Have a good night Sergeant," Ed said and Wallen took it for the dismissal it was.

"Thank you sir. You as well." He disappeared back into the hallway (a little more quickly than Ed thought necessary) pulling the door closed behind him.

"I'd bet money that this meeting is going to be General Widdon and General Combes trying to get Führer Grumman to convene a court martial sooner than agreed," Havoc grouched, slumping petulantly in his seat. Edward groaned as he realised Havoc was probably right. The High Command – with the exception of Grumman and perhaps another two or three of those among the ranks of the generals – would try and do something like that.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes told us that he wouldn't be surprised to hear that the generals were going to try something like that," Morgan admitted after exchanging a look with Falman. "When we got to his office, he was working on an update report for General Widdon."

"They'll probably try to argue that the three days we've been investigating should have been more than enough time to uncover the real killer or any compelling evidence that points to a frame-job," Ed sighed in annoyance.

"Why though? Lieutenant Colonel Brookes had nearly two months to investigate his case. Why would they not let us have the week that the Führer promised us?" Al asked, brows furrowed with confusion and dismay.

"Because despite our inability to uncover the identity of the real criminal, we've uncovered enough suggestive evidence to give the defense a real chance at sowing the seeds of reasonable doubt, Alphonse, and that's with only three days to investigate," Hawkeye explained. "General Mustang is innocent of these charges, and the rest of the generals know that if we're given more time to investigate, we'll likely uncover some more small pieces of the puzzle, if not find the real killer outright before the week is out. Even if we don't find the actual killer, we might find enough evidence that we could use to save General Mustang from the firing squad. Their only hope is that if they can persuade the Führer to give in to the pressure they put on him, we'll be too distracted by the court martial to investigate properly and we won't be able to save him."

Al's glare at the tabletop was truly impressive – worthy of his brother in every way – and rather surprised the BAU agents, since up until now Al had been cheerfulness and politeness personified. "Would they really try and rob us of the four days we still have left? Wouldn't it just be easier for them to wait those four days?"

Hawkeye shook her head. "A lot can happen in four days. Just look at the Promised Day, for example. The homunculi spent hundreds of years planning how to consume Amestris and her people to gain ultimate power. It took you, Edward, General Mustang, and all the other key players a matter of months to come up with a plan to stop them. Most the generals have likely been trying to figure out subtle ways to rid the military of General Mustang without it leading back to them for months, if not years, and now they have the perfect opportunity to do so. They view him as a threat for many reasons – his power as an alchemist, his rapid rise through the ranks, and his reputation for exposing corruption. They'll be trying to do what they can to deprive us of as much time as possible to help the Brigadier General so they can be rid of him completely."

Ed felt his familiar hate for the corrupt military leadership well up as he listened to Hawkeye's explanation to his brother. "We'll find out for sure what they want tomorrow," he added once her explanation came to an end. He didn't expect the slightly stunned silence he received from everyone else. "What?" he asked, a little defensively.

"Nothing, chief, just…" Havoc held up his hands in a placating gesture, "we didn't think you'd really be going to the meeting."

"Of course I am. I told Wallen to tell Grumman I would be, and I respect Grumman enough to keep my word to him," Ed told him, but Havoc shared a knowing glance with the rest of Mustang's team.

"You just want to go so you can be your usual self and tell them they're all greedy idiots," Havoc accused teasingly.

"Hey, I never said that wasn't at least part of the reason I was going," Ed grinned back, recognising the teasing for what it was, even as the others laughed at him.

"You're going to get yourself stabbed by a general one of these days, Brother," Al sighed in resignation. Ed lightly punched his brother on the shoulder.

"Wouldn't be the first time I've been stabbed and it would give me an excuse to kick their asses," Ed joked, causing Al to roll his eyes at him.

"Please don't attack the members of the High Command, Brother," Al asked, although his tone suggested he thought it was a lost cause.

"I would never do such a thing!" Ed did a good job of sounding aghast and shocked at the very idea. "Unless they attacked me first," he added when he saw the disbelieving look on Al's face.

"I'll be there with him, Alphonse," Hawkeye assured the younger Elric, whose look of relief was far more pronounced than the one he'd given her when she'd assured him that she'd keep Ed in line before they left for Mustang's house earlier that day. Ed didn't get the chance to respond in any way to that exchange before Hotch interrupted the banter.

"Would you like one of us to go along with the two of you, just in case they ask about our methods or want a report from us directly?"

Ed and Hawkeye exchanged looks and seemed to have a short, silent conversation before Ed shrugged nonchalantly and Hawkeye nodded. The captain turned to look at us. "You may accompany us, but you will undoubtedly be asked to wait outside the room if you're not needed inside. The generals will no doubt claim that because you're foreigners as well as civilians, you have no place in a high-level meeting since there's a chance that state secrets could come up."

Hotch shrugged and nodded. "That's fine with me," he assured her.

"Then we'd be glad to have you accompany us, Agent Hotchner," Hawkeye said, allowing a little gratefulness to shine in her voice.

"What are the rest of you going to do while we go and listen to all those dickheads try to bully Grumman into doing what they want?" Ed asked, ignoring Al's sigh from next to him.

"Well, I've uncovered some interesting things from the newspapers today. Alphonse and Warrant Officer Fuery were a lot of help today, and what they found matched up with some of what I found," JJ told them. Ed leaned forward a little in interest and noted he wasn't the only one. "Central's main newspaper, _The Daily Central_, has done an excellent job of wording their articles so they aren't directly accusing Mustang of being guilty, but still making it so that their readers can't draw any other conclusion. By doing it that way, they can't be accused of slander," JJ explained. "However, there are quite a few of the smaller newspapers who are either trying to be more objective in their reporting, or are not afraid to pose the possibility that Mustang could be being framed."

"You want to go and talk to the editors or journalists tomorrow, don't you?" Morgan asked knowingly.

"And the radio hosts that report on the news to see if they keep transcripts of their shows," JJ said, completely unabashed with how predictable she'd been and how well her team knew her.

"I believe Warrant Officer Fuery and Lieutenant Falman would be able to escort you," Hawkeye told her. Neither of the two men protested being volunteered for the duty. In fact, Fuery looked excited about the task and Ed realised that the poor man really hadn't had the opportunity to leave the office, with the exception of going home for the night or fetching food for everyone.

"Prentiss could go along with you as well, JJ," Hotch said. "That is, if you want to Prentiss?" Emily nodded immediately. She wasn't sure what more she could be doing the next day, but it likely would have involved more interviews and Prentiss wasn't sure she could handle another entire day of interviews like the ones she'd performed today. A break like this, where she wouldn't be the lead interviewer, would be welcome.

"So that's JJ's, Agent Prentiss', Fuery's, and Falman's day sorted," Ed counted off on his fingers. "Captain Hawkeye, Hotch, and I are going to go to that dumbass meeting and that'll probably take forever," he added with a moan before looking back up at everyone. "So what are the rest of you going to do?"

"I was hoping to pay the coroner a visit and discuss his findings on the victims in more depth. I wanted to see if there was anything that he didn't think needed to go into his reports because it didn't seem significant in the context of the situation at the time he performed the autopsies," Rossi told them.

"Reid and Morgan can go with you," Hotch said.

"So can Lieutenants Havoc and Ross," Hawkeye said with a look at the two officers.

"Wait, was it the same coroner for each victim?" Morgan asked, and Reid immediately nodded.

"Yes. Doctor Johnathon Cole was the coroner who performed all five autopsies," Reid told them. No one questioned whether or not he was right.

"Do we really need five people to interview one man?" Morgan asked, curiously.

"That does seem a little excessive to me," Sheska volunteered shyly, almost too quietly for everyone to hear her.

"I might have a solution," Al offered, his tone making it more of a question than a statement. "I was going to ask Brother to go with me once he has a couple of hours free, since he's the only one I've ever seen Doctor Knox treat more civilly than anyone else." Ed seemed confused by the claim Al had made, but he also seemed to know where Al was going with his idea, so he refrained from commenting. "When I was reviewing the case files from previous cases where the Brigadier General has had to use his flame alchemy against someone in a fatal manner, I noticed that Doctor Knox was the one who performed a good percentage of the autopsies. I was going to ask him whether or not he'd seen the reports written by Doctor Cole and what his thoughts were about them."

"It certainly couldn't hurt. If the Generals get their way tomorrow, we might need to refocus our efforts on making sure Lanco has enough of a case to help extend the trial so we can keep investigating," Hotch replied. "Morgan, I want you, Rossi, and Lieutenant Havoc to interview Doctor Cole. Reid, you and Lieutenant Ross will accompany Al to Doctor Knox's office and see if he can help. Ask him if he'd be willing to serve as an expert witness for Mr. Lanco if this case gets that far."

"Sure thing, Hotch," Morgan said, as everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Everyone else will stay here and continue to work on paperwork or dealing with any leads that might come to the office," Hawkeye ordered, getting nods from Sheska and Breda, who were the only two who hadn't been assigned to help anyone. "I would suggest that those planning to visit the morgue tomorrow do so during the doctors' lunch breaks or call early tomorrow morning to schedule a meeting."

"Of course, Captain," Hotch agreed easily.

Edward listened to them discuss a few more details about their plans for the next day, which mainly involved the BAU agents getting the Amestrians' opinions about the two coroners, for a little while before he removed his trademark red coat. He'd contributed to the conversation with a couple of remarks about Knox's grumpy attitude towards people, but his attention was diverted as he realised that there was something in the inner pocket of his black jacket. He frowned as he undid the zipper, trying to remember what he'd put in there, realising as soon as his gloved fingers gripped the edge of the tablet Pidge had made for him. He pulled it out and placed it on the table in front of him.

"What do you have there, Ed?" Reid asked, causing the blond alchemist to look up and see all eyes on him. Reid looked at the device for a moment and immediately looked puzzled. "Is that a tablet?" Surprised gasps from the rest of the BAU agents and a pair of confused looks from Lieutenant Ross and Sheska met his question.

"Uh, yes. Kinda. It's not exactly like the ones you have back in your country though," Ed told them, unconsciously pulling the tablet a little closer to himself. "This one was specially made for me by a friend I met on my last trip." Sheska still looked immensely confused, and the BAU weren't looking much less confused than she was.

"Brother, I think you might need to tell everyone about your last trip and who you got the tablet from," Al whispered to him. "That way you won't have to try to code everything you say. It's a miracle that we haven't slipped up in front of them yet, and you know we can trust them not to say anything to anyone else."

Ed thought about what his brother had said before nodding. He'd been feeling a little guilty about not being able to talk freely in front of Sheska because she didn't know all the details about the BAU and how they'd met. He studied her for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Sheska, what I'm about to tell you can't be discussed with anyone other than the people in this room, Major Armstrong, and Mustang. Do you understand?" He stressed his words, hoping to reinforce how important this was. He was confident he could trust her, since she'd never breathed a word about being the one who'd copied out Doctor Marcoh's notes, but if other people learned that dimensional travel was possible…no. He needed to be sure.

Sheska looked apprehensive as she considered what he was about to say, and for a moment looked like she was considering leaving the room so she didn't have to be told top-secret information, but Edward could also see the same insatiable hunger to find out everything shining in her eyes as she weighed her options. Finally, she nodded. "I won't tell anyone, Edward. I promise."

Edward believed her. Despite her shy and anxious demeanor, Sheska wasn't one to break her promises in the face of danger. Ed valued the importance of a promise, and he knew that Sheska, Lieutenant Ross, and the rest of the BAU team did too. A quick glance at the others told him that they saw the same and felt the same as Sheska.

"Lieutenant Ross knows about the first two trips I made, but not about the third one yet, so I'll explain how Mustang and I met the BAU team first," Ed said. "Do you remember how a few weeks after the Promised Day, when Mustang and I disappeared for about a week? The Führer claimed that we were on a classified mission for him when people started to get worried?"

Sheska thought for a moment and then nodded. "I remember. I didn't pay a lot of attention because I was so busy helping Lieutenant Colonel Brookes with the investigations into the remaining members of the High Command, and there was so much work to be done with the transition from Führer Bradley's rule to Führer Grumman's."

"Well, that was just a cover story so people wouldn't panic," Ed explained. "The first time Mustang and I disappeared, it was because Truth – er, you know who, or what, Truth is, don't you?" Ed asked, suddenly unsure. After all, Sheska didn't know what the true cause of Ed's missing limbs or Al's confinement inside the armour for five years was. But she'd read so many different things, and one of the cornerstones of alchemy was the concept of pursuing the truth.

"There were references to a being known as Truth in a few of the alchemy books I've read, but I always thought that it was more of a metaphor or allegory. I'm not an alchemist, so I figured it was just something that only an alchemist with more context and knowledge than I had would understand," she said after a moment.

"Right, well, Truth is real," Edward explained. "He – or it, maybe would be a better way to describe it – is probably the closest equivalent to an alchemic god there is. I owed Truth a favour as part of a deal to get Al back after what happened on the Promised Day," he continued, ignoring the somber looks that Mustang's team and Lieutenant Ross were giving him and his brother. "In exchange for Al, Truth got my right arm and a favour it could ask of me at any time. While Al was still recovering in the hospital, Mustang was assigned to track down a rogue alchemist known as Thomas Harding, the Boiling Alchemist. He came to see me so I could create a counter-array for Harding's array, and Truth suddenly decided to call in its marker. Truth pulled us into its realm and told me that my job was to track Harding down. Mustang came along because apparently my chances of survival went up if he did." Ed rolled his eyes.

"Brother."

"What? I still say that Truth has a low opinion of my abilities," Ed replied. "Anyway, that was how we met this lot the first time. Truth sent us to an alternate dimension to locate and capture Harding." Ed grinned when Sheska's jaw dropped, almost hitting the desk in front of her. "The country we landed in was called America, and the city was called New York. We landed at the crime scene these guys were investigating and were promptly made aware of the fact that they were armed," Ed's grin changed to a smirk when Morgan groaned.

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Morgan asked.

"_Both_ times I landed in your country, I was greeted with the business end of multiple weapons pointed at my face," Ed pointed out. "I'm in the military – if a single week goes by without someone pointing a gun in my face, I consider it a rare occasion." He shushed Morgan before the older man could protest. "Anyway, Mustang and I teamed up with these guys and we managed to hunt Harding down and we stopped him from hurting more people. After that, Truth brought us back to Amestris." No one missed the way Ed had glossed over what had happened to Harding, and JJ and Prentiss sent him concerned looks which he determinedly ignored. "Two and a half months later, Al and I were assigned a case to track down this low-level burglar named Jarrod Moore. What we didn't know at the time was that Moore was Harding's adopted brother. Moore managed to lure me into – admittedly – a pretty well-thought out trap. I got sent back to America and met another group of investigators similar to these guys, but they worked for a different agency. That group let me call these guys, and they came to where I was to help. At the same time, Mustang managed to fall for the same trap I did, and both he and Moore ended up in America with me. Moore ran off and we hunted him down with the help of the two groups."

"How'd you get home, if Truth wasn't the one to send you there in the first place?" Sheska asked, looking enthralled by the story, even though he was going light on the details.

"Alphonse, our Teacher, and Major Armstrong managed to activate the array which opened the portal between our worlds long enough for Mustang and I to get back through, bringing Moore back with us. Moore ended up standing trial for his burglaries, abducting two State Alchemists, and the attempted murder of two State Alchemists. He's gonna be in prison for a very long time," Ed explained.

"But that's only two trips," Sheska said. "You said you got that thing on your third trip." She slapped a hand over her mouth as soon as she finished speaking, realising that she'd interrupted Edward's story. Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment as Ed grinned at her.

"The third trip happened a month after our second trip to America," Ed explained. "Al and I were at home one morning when Truth just suddenly kidnapped me and sent me to what I _think_ was the same dimension, but a lot further into the future from where they currently are." The BAU leaned forward with more interest than Ed thought they ought to have until he realised that he hadn't mentioned that detail on the train. He hesitated a moment before he continued. "Now, what I'm gonna tell you will probably seem even more unbelievable than inter-dimensional travel, but this," he tapped the edge of his tablet, "holds my proof."

Lieutenant Ross and Sheska regarded the tablet dubiously, the BAU agents with interest. Ed took a deep breath and decided the best way to tell the next part was to just rip the bandage off, so to speak. "So, Truth dumped me in the middle of a hallway on a spaceship, right at the feet of another teenager named Lance. Before I could figure out what was going on, I heard this voice in my head. I followed the voice through the ship and found myself standing in front of this giant mechanical Lion. It turned out that she was sentient, created with a combination of alchemy and the technology of that dimension. She introduced me to her sisters, four other Lions like her. They were individual ships, but when necessary, they could literally join together to create an even more powerful ship called Voltron. While I was talking to them for the first time, seven other people came through the door, but before we could do anything else, we found ourselves in front of Truth again."

Ross looked like she was struggling to hold back a comment or a disbelieving scoff, or both. Sheska seemed torn between being enthralled with an amazing story, and extreme skepticism. The BAU team members were trying to remain neutral, but Ed could see that even they were struggling to believe this, and they'd already had two previous adventures with Ed and Mustang, as well as having met Truth themselves.

"So, Truth kidnapped me because he wanted me to help those seven win a war. There was a powerful race of aliens, called the Galra, who had been slowly working towards universal domination under their Emperor, Zarkon, and his most loyal follower, a witch named Haggar." Ed swallowed hard, determined not to get lost in the memories of the final fight with Haggar. "Truth was concerned because Haggar was also an alchemist, although the alchemy that she practiced was slightly different from the alchemy of Amestris." At the confused looks, he sighed and tried to explain a little further. "Okay, so in Amestris, alchemists use the energy that is generated by the movement of the tectonic plates and the energy released during seismic events and volcanic eruptions. In the other dimension, alchemists use something they called quintessence, which was basically a powerful force radiating from all living things. Haggar's plan was to find a way to open a portal to a pocket dimension that was nothing but pure quintessence. If she'd managed to do that, she would have become so powerful that even Truth might not have been able to stop her. After what happened here with the Promised Day, Truth thought that I had the best chance of being able to stop her before she got that far, since Truth couldn't interfere directly. So I made a deal with Truth. In exchange for helping to stop the witch, Truth gave me even more knowledge than I had before, including the knowledge of how the alchemy in that dimension worked, and promised that I would get a free trip home when my job was done, and a promise that Truth would tell Mustang or Al where I was."

"It doesn't sound like you got much out of the deal, though," Morgan commented.

"Depends on how you look at it," Ed said with a shrug. "I got the knowledge from Truth, I got another inter-dimensional adventure, and I made really good friends with the Lions and their Paladins. Mustang turned up about a day later, in an attempt to avoid his paperwork in the most extreme way imaginable." Everyone laughed at that. "With the knowledge that I gained from Truth, I formed a mental bond with the Lions and was able to complete an alchemic array that their creator, King Alfor of Altea, had been working on before he died. The array enabled the Lions to shift from their mechanical spaceship forms into being flesh-and-blood. We spent a week training together and learning from each other before we staged an attack against Zarkon and Haggar. We defeated them, which turned the tide of the war in the favour of Voltron and the Paladins, and then a few days later Truth snatched Mustang and me up again and sent us back home."

"I don't know, Ed," Ross admitted. "I know I saw Major Armstrong, Al, and your teacher pull you through the portal that one time, but this is a little harder to believe."

"Well, Truth did steal us from our dimension and ask us to help it out with a problem here that it wouldn't fix on its own, and here we are. It also promised us a return trip home once the mission it kidnapped us for is completed, just like it did for Ed and Mustang regarding their Voltron adventure," Hotch pointed out and Ross dipped her head slightly as she recognised his point but Ed could see she was still struggling to fully believe him.

Sheska, on the other hand, was looking thoughtfully between the BAU team and Edward. She blinked a few times as she thought through what Ed had just told her. "Okay."

"Okay?" Ed asked, a little perplexed by her lack of reaction.

She giggled a little bit, before nodding sharply. "It sounds far too fantastical for you to have made it all up. As far as your friends here go, I haven't been able to place their accents, so I know they have to be from somewhere pretty far away." She shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around everything you said, but you've never played a prank like this on me before, so I believe you. You also said you have proof, which I'm sure will go a long way to completely convince me that what you're saying is true."

Ed indicated the BAU team. "Well, they're kind my only proof from my first two trips. Well, them and some clothing and books they gave me before I left the second time." At the work 'books', Sheska perked up with a lot more interest than she'd previously shown. "I'll loan them too you, if you want," Ed promised, and she looked thrilled. "But the tablet has photos and videos of my time with Voltron. I grabbed it this morning when Al and I went back to the Hughes' apartment." He looked over at Ross, who still seemed skeptical. "Lieutenant?"

"I don't know why I'm finding it so hard to believe you about this Voltron group," she said apologetically. "I'm sorry, Edward. This whole thing just seems like some wild fantasy novel, despite everything we've seen and done. Mechanical Lion spaceships that can turn into flesh-and-blood creatures, this quintessence stuff, Voltron…it's all a little hard to believe."

"How come you brought the tablet here? Wouldn't it be dangerous if someone caught you with it?" Sheska asked, dragging Ed's attention back to her.

"Nah, I'll keep it hidden until I get it back to the Hughes' apartment," Ed assured her. "I brought it with me because they," he indicated the BAU team, "didn't believe me when I told them what had happened. Which is fair enough, because sometimes I don't believe it and it not only happened to me, but I've still got my connection with the Lions and get regular updates on what's been going on over there. There are some days when I can't get them to shut up, actually." He tapped his left temple to indicate how he meant they were talking to him before he started fiddling with his tablet. He made a small sound of victory when he managed to get the feature he wanted working.

Placing the tablet flat on the table in front of him, he activated the photo albums, projecting a hologram above the tablet. Mustang's team and Al were the only ones who didn't react, since they'd seen the photos before. The first photo Ed pulled up was a picture of Black in her mechanical form, with Shiro and Keith barely visible next to her paw, talking and completely unaware they'd been photographed.

"Okay, so this is one of the Lions in her mechanical form. That's Black, the leader of the Lions, and the first one that King Alfor created, so she's the oldest. She was the first of the Lions to speak to me when I arrived on the Castle-Ship. That's Shiro, her pilot, the Black Paladin, and Keith, the Red Paladin," Ed explained. He felt a little smug at the looks of astonishment and awe on the faces of the BAU team, Sheska, and Ross. He flicked the hologram to the next picture, a selfie Lance had taken of himself and Blue, with Edward squished in between them. Ed smiled fondly as he remembered Lance trying to explain what a selfie was and why people took them. "This is Lance and Blue. Lance was the one that Truth dumped me in front of when I first arrived, and he pilots Blue when she's in her mechanical form. Lance is the team sharpshooter, and he's nearly as good a shot as Captain Hawkeye." He flicked to the next photo.

"You and Lance look like you were quite close. Does your mental bond mean you can connect to the Paladins if you can talk to the Lions?" JJ asked.

Ed shook his head. "No, I can only talk to the Lions. They can act as relays and pass messages along from their pilot or the Alteans, but I can't actually talk to them. Though, if what Green says is true, Pidge might be very close to figuring out a way to connect to my tablet and send messages to it from them directly." Everyone saw the way his eyes shone with cautious hope.

"So, who are they?" Prentiss asked, nodding to the new photo which showed Keith and Red lounging on a couch, Keith leaning on his Lion and looking at something the camera didn't capture. Red's tail was wrapped around Keith's waist and the tip resting on his knee.

"That's Keith and Red. Mustang reckons that Keith is a lot like me in that he's a good fighter, but a bit reckless. I think Mustang's full of it." Stifled laughter from the others had Ed glaring at everyone, particularly Havoc and Breda. "Keith is seriously good with a sword though, which made sparring against him actually fun." He flicked to the next photo with a bit more force than necessary for a hologram.

This photo was of Green and Pidge in Green's hanger. Green was in her mechanical form and Pidge was tapping away at her laptop while wires ran everywhere along the floor. They could see a couple of the mice in the photo, sitting on the worktable near Pidge, as well as Allura, who was leaning over Pidge's shoulder, completely entranced with whatever was showing on the screen and not paying any attention to whoever was holding the camera.

"This is Pidge and her Lion, Green," Ed said, pointing at Pidge. "Pidge is a genius engineer and compliments Green really well. Green is almost as inquisitive as Pidge and always wants to know how things work. The lady with the white hair is Princess Allura of Altea. Her planet and her people were all wiped out ten thousand years before I met them, and she and her advisor Coran are the only known survivors of Altea. Her father, King Alfor, was an alchemist and so is she, although she needs some training. Her father was the one who built the Lions." He watched as they absorbed that information while studying the photo.

"How old is she?" Prentiss couldn't help but ask. If this princess was more than ten thousand years old, she was looking good for her age.

"I'm not sure, but she's not physically ten thousand years old," Edward told them as he flipped to a photo of Coran and Mustang. Given the way Coran was gesticulating in the photo, and Mustang's polite, diplomatic mask, Ed was willing to wager that Coran had cornered Mustang and was telling him some story or other about Altea. Ed knew his commander well enough to know that Mustang would have been polite, while trying to look for an escape. "This is Coran, Princess Allura's advisor. He was a bit eccentric, but he was an awesome storyteller and his grandfather was the one who built the Castle-Ship we were on. Coran and Allura were placed in cryogenic pods, freezing them, but keeping them alive, by King Alfor when Zarkon turned his sights on Altea. Then King Alfor split the Lions up and sent the Castle-Ship with Allura and Coran on it as far away as he could before Altea was destroyed. The Paladins didn't find them until ten thousand years had passed and they stumbled onto Blue, who was hidden on Earth."

The next photo Ed flipped to showed Hunk and Shiro in the kitchen, while Yellow and Black sat in the middle of the floor, forcing the Paladins to move around them. Black was lying regally while Yellow had draped herself over the sister so her front paws and head rested on Black's back.

"These are Black, Yellow, Shiro, and Hunk. Black is Shiro's and Yellow is Hunk's," Ed told them, pointing to the Paladin in question when he said their name. "I think Hunk was trying to teach Shiro to cook since he's apparently useless in the kitchen," Ed told them before pulling up one of his favourite photos. This one had him and Lance lying completely on all five Lions in the Castle-Ship library and reading books on one of their breaks from training. It had been one of the only times Lance had been able to uphold his deal and teach him Altean, Galran, and Spanish. Thanks to Blue, they were lessons that Ed and Lance had been able to continue.

"You said you can still talk with the Lions?" Reid asked after silence reigned in the room for a few minutes while the BAU, Sheska, and Ross allowed the pictures and stories to sink in. Ed nodded. "Why haven't we heard or seen you talk to them?"

"You wouldn't have heard me talk to them because we communicate telepathically, but I haven't spoken to them since the night I found you in Resembool. I asked them to mute our bond so I wouldn't be distracted by what was happening with them while we were trying to sort this mess out." Ed gestured to the case files still scattered across the desks. "They were okay with it since they were going to ask me to do the same thing shortly after I asked them. They said they had a lot of missions to do back-to-back that needed them to focus one hundred percent, and they know how often I get into fights because criminals have to continually prove they're idiots." Ed scowled when that garnered a laugh from the majority of the room. Hawkeye, Hotch, and Falman were the only ones who didn't laugh, but they had an amused glint in their eyes that Ed didn't appreciate either.

"Edward?" Sheska's voice had turned shy once more, but Ed gave her his attention and a silent gesture to continue. "Will you tell us more about your trips? They sound fascinating and I'd love to hear everything about them." Ed grinned.

"I think we can do that. I'm sure they'll have plenty to tell you about what it was like from their point of view," Ed said, indicating the BAU. Morgan and Prentiss were both smirking at the thought of telling the stories from their perspective. Ed leaned back in his chair to make himself comfortable and waited for everyone to do the same. He felt a little bad about the fact that they gossiping about his inter-dimensional travels instead of trying to help Mustang, but at the same time he knew there wasn't much they could do tonight, except go over the case files and other gathered information for the one-hundredth time. He glanced at Hawkeye to see what her reaction was to all of this, and she caught his eye before he started taking and gave him a near-invisible nod of support. Letting out the breath he didn't even know he'd been holding, he turned his attention back to the group and took in Sheska's and Maria's eager expressions. "Okay, so like I said earlier, I owed Truth a favour…"

A/N - Here's chapter 14 for y'all! Not an awful lot of investigating happening in this chapter, I know, but the next chapter will be Ed and Grumman facing off with Generals' Combes and Widdon as well as a few others. Sorry if anyone who hasn't read my Voltron crossover fic yet and wanted to got any spoilers in this chapter but hopefully you'll still enjoy the crossover story. It's not beta'd so be warned that the writing style is different because it's all me.

I'd love to thank my amazing beta, PhoenixQueen, for all her hard work on this chapter and the story as a whole so far. I would also like to thank everyone who reviewed our last chapter and the story as it is so far. I absolutely love reading reviews on my stories and would love to hear what everyone thought to this latest chapter pretty please! For those who are also following 'Spirit Animals' don't forget I'm revising the current chapters and working on the rest of the story so the revised chap 2 will be going up shortly. See you all next week!


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Despite what Mustang might believe and whine to his team when Edward wasn't in earshot, the younger alchemist _did_ know how to be on time for meetings. He just deliberately chose to be late most of the time in an effort to rile Mustang up. It was the little things in life that gave him so much pleasure, after all. Of course, since this meeting was a _little_ more important than just irritating Mustang, Hawkeye would never have allowed him to be late. To be fair, Edward wasn't intending to be late, even without the captain's prodding.

Samantha waved them through to the conference room attached to the Führer's office when they arrived after exchanging greetings, while Hotch took a seat on one of the couches to wait to see if he would be needed to give a report on their progress. Ed felt a little bad that the agent would be waiting for an unknown length of time, but Hotch had assured him that it wouldn't be a problem. He was planning on reviewing the notes he'd been making on their progress and organising his thoughts to explain what they had been working on while he was waiting to be called in.

There were six other officers seated around the rectangular conference table, including General Combes and General Widdon. The other four, Edward didn't recognise, but based on their rank insignias, they all held the rank of either Major General or Brigadier General. He had half-expected Lieutenant General Armstrong to have discharged herself from the hospital and turned up for this meeting, but she didn't seem to be present. He wasn't sure whether or not to be relieved by that fact. While Armstrong and Mustang had been reluctant allies during the Promised Day, she had openly admitted to him that she would be pleased to see Mustang fall from power. Edward couldn't be confident which way she would go if the opportunity to take Mustang down came up.

Interestingly enough, Ed noticed that there wasn't a chair at the head of the table. There were five chairs on each of the long sides of the table. One of the chairs was more ornate than the other nine – most likely Grumman's – which was set in the center of one side. Two of the unknown Major Generals were seated in the empty chairs to the right of Grumman's, while Combes and Widdon had taken the two chairs to the left. The other two generals were seated across the table at the two ends, and there were three empty seats remaining in the center. Ed took the chair that would put him directly across from Grumman, with an empty chair on each side between him and the other two generals. Instead of taking a seat of her own, Hawkeye moved to stand behind Ed's left shoulder, her hands casually folded in front of her at her waist.

Ed smirked at the surprised looks on Combes' and Widdon's faces when they saw him take a seat. As always, Hawkeye's professional, impassive mask hid her amusement from all those present. If he didn't know what to look for, Ed would have thought that she was considering it just another day at the office, instead of a meeting that could contribute to determining Mustang's fate.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric, so nice of you to _finally_ join us," Combes sneered the moment Ed sat down in his chosen seat.

Ed's golden eyes snapped to meet Combes' condescending gaze. "It's ten o'clock. I do believe that was the agreed upon time for us being dragged to this meeting. Ain't my fault you lot decided to get here early. Besides, the Führer isn't here yet, and I don't see Brigadier General Mustang either."

"I'll have to correct you on at least one of those things, Lieutenant Colonel Elric," a voice said from the door. "I'm right here."

Everyone immediately rose to their feet and saluted as Grumman entered the room. He waved a dismissal and took his seat across from Edward. Once he was in his seat, the rest of the group resumed their own seats. Grumman immediately focused his attention back on Edward. "In response to your query about Mustang attending this meeting, I'm afraid I'll have to tell you he won't be. Since he has been stripped of his rank and is still being held under such serious crimes, he is essentially a civilian and therefore not permitted to be at this meeting as he doesn't have the necessary clearance, Lieutenant-Colonel Elric."

"Shouldn't he be given the chance to speak on his own behalf?" Edward asked.

"He'll get that opportunity if and when his case comes to trial, I assure you," Grumman replied.

That didn't seem fair to Edward, but he didn't argue with Grumman for two reasons; he knew better and he could hear a slightly regretful tone in the Fuhrer's voice. As long as Mustang would eventually get a chance to speak for himself, he would have to be content with that decision. And of course, Mustang had a secret weapon in the form of the BAU team. Fresh eyes on the evidence and a fresh perspective would help. Instead, he simply nodded acceptance.

"Captain Hawkeye, what are you doing here? Aides aren't permitted at this meeting," one of the other generals sitting on Grumman's right said.

"Captain Hawkeye has my permission to stay, as she is here by my invitation," Grumman replied before Edward could retort.

"Sir, I must protest. Our own aides were turned away from this meeting, and – no offense to Captain Hawkeye intended – this meeting may very well stray into matters above her rank and clearance," the general continued. Ed didn't know this particular man, who looked to be near Grumman's age, but his build reminded Ed of a bulldog – short, broad-shouldered, and heavy-jowled, with an air about him that would make the average person feel wary around him. What struck Ed the most was the fact that his tone as he addressed Grumman was actually respectful, rather than the condescending tone that Ed was used to hearing from generals.

"I'm aware that this seems unfair General Brathwaite, and ordinarily I would agree with the points you raised, but I'm making an exception this time," Grumman replied firmly, before directing his attention to the opposite end of the table where a mutter that sounded like 'because she's your granddaughter' had come from one of the generals (Ed was willing to wager it was Combes), before he continued. "First and foremost, Lieutenant Colonel Elric is new to his rank and has never been part of a meeting with the High Command. Secondly, he is standing in for Mustang, and Captain Hawkeye has in fact attended these sorts of meetings with Mustang in the past, so she will be able to assist the Lieutenant Colonel in understanding the lay of the land. And finally, she and Lieutenant Colonel Elric are assisting in the secondary investigation that I am permitting them to run alongside Lieutenant Colonel Brookes'. As such, both of them have the right to be at any meeting that could influence the outcome of their investigation so that they can guide their team appropriately."

The Führer's tone didn't allow any room for argument on the matter, and after a moment's consideration, the rest of the generals nodded in acceptance. Ed noted that at least a few of them still weren't happy with the situation, but none of them protested any further.

"Of course, Your Excellency." Brathwaite dipped his head before leaning forward slightly and folding his hands as he rested them on the surface of the tabletop so that he could see past the Führer to where Widdon and Combes sat. "I believe that the only thing we were asked to convene for was to discuss something that General Widdon and General Combes deemed important enough to call an emergency meeting with barely any notice. Perhaps they could enlighten the rest of us as to what this emergency is all about?"

If Ed wasn't mistaken (and he rarely was, despite Mustang's taunts over the years, thank you very much) he thought he could hear a note of irritation in the older general's tone. The pointed look he gave Combes and Widdon sent the two men into action. Widdon cleared his throat before adopting a posture similar to the one Brathwaite had assumed.

"Thank you, General Brathwaite. We apologise for any disturbances to your plans our request has caused." Combes didn't look like he agreed with Widdon's words. "However, we believed that this matter was something that simply couldn't wait until our scheduled meeting next month. It is a matter of some importance as it could affect the military itself as a whole, and have a significant impact on Central and her citizens."

Ed kept his expression impassively bored, not that it was difficult, with Widdon pontificating down at the end of the table. If he was sitting in a meeting with Mustang, he would have put his feet up on the table in a passive-aggressive show of disrespect, but Hawkeye wouldn't approve. After all, he only wanted to piss off certain people at the table, not all of them. And he respected Grumman too much to show that level of defiance.

"Well?" The only female general in the room asked impatiently from her seat next to Brathwaite, interrupting Widdon before he could really go into a long-winded diatribe. "We don't have all day, General Widdon," she added, with a warning glint in her green eyes. Ed observed her for a moment, trying to get a gauge on what she was like. She was average height and her once-raven hair was showing signs of turning grey due to age, but if he had to guess he would have put her about a decade older than General Armstrong, and not much older than Combes or Widdon. Like Armstrong, she didn't give the impression that she was softer than those around her due to her gender.

"My apologies, General Sayer." Ed wondered if he was the only one who saw the aborted eye-roll that Widdon made. "We wish to discuss the former Brigadier General Mustang's upcoming court-martial date." This time Ed didn't bother to disguise his own eye-roll.

"Looks like Havoc won that bet," he muttered to Hawkeye in an undertone, loud enough for her ears only. However, Combes immediately fastened his attention down the table and glared.

"Something that you'd like to share, Elric?" Combes barked.

"Not with you and its _Lieutenant Colonel_. I know that you know what my rank is, because I told you when you and General Widdon barged into Mustang's office after you raided it with your search warrant," Ed snapped back before Grumman could intervene. Combes' face flushed a furious red.

"You're the one always going around telling people that you don't care about your rank," Widdon stated, coming to Combes' defense.

"Only the people I like don't have to address me by my rank," Ed informed him. The words 'and I don't like you' didn't have to be added to his statement, judging by the way Combes and Widdon's metaphorical hackles raised. Hawkeye's hand brushed against Ed's left shoulder unseen, signaling him to tread carefully. It had been a signal they'd agreed upon when Al had voiced his worries more than once during the hours they were in the office before the meeting that morning. Hawkeye had promised she wouldn't let Ed be insubordinate enough to warrant punishment by giving him a signal to indicate that he needed to watch his behaviour. Ed had agreed, if only to soothe Alphonse's worries a little.

"As amusing as this diversion is, shall we continue with the matter at hand? Some of us have trains to catch," the general to Edward's right said and Grumman nodded in agreement.

"General Jones has a point. Both he and General Smythe have trains to catch to return to their commands later today, and I'm sure everyone else at this table has work they need to be doing as well. So, if this meeting could continue, that would be ideal." The Führer's voice was cool. Edward's eyes fell on the now identified General Smythe, who had been the one to mutter about Hawkeye, and decided that he didn't like the other man for just that reason. There was something shifty about the beady-eyed man that had Ed's gut telling him to not trust him.

"Of course, Your Excellency," Widdon said apologetically. "It is quite simple. As everyone is aware, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes has placed the Flame Alchemist, Roy Mustang, under arrest for the recent string of fire-based murders perpetrated against members of this military. There is compelling evidence that indicates that Mustang is guilty of these crimes, yet _Lieutenant Colonel_ Elric and Captain Hawkeye are persisting with a delusion that their former commanding officer is innocent of these charges and as such, they have been able to manipulate the situation to allow a group of foreign nationals to run a secondary investigation in a desperate attempt to avoid the charges levied against him. We'd like your permission for us to convene Mustang's court-martial immediately." Ed didn't like the way Smythe, Sayer, or Jones straightened with interest a little.

"Your argument?" Grumman sounded a little tired and irritated when he asked. Ed bit his tongue so he wouldn't immediately tell Combes and Widdon to fuck off. Hotch's advice before the meeting had been to hear them out.

"_If you know the position your opponent is advocating for, you'll be better able to counter them in a reasoned and logical way,"_ the agent had pointed out.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric, his team, and the team of foreign specialists that you permitted to work on the case on behalf of Mustang's defense have had nearly four days to find any evidence to support their claim that Mustang is being framed for these crimes, and they have found nothing of any importance that can counter the testimony provided by Lieutenant General Armstrong. We all know this was a last-ditch effort for Mustang to try and weasel his way out of being tried for his crimes. General Combes and I believe that the extra three days the defense have will turn up the same results – nothing," Widdon claimed, his face remaining neutral but everyone could see the gleam in his eyes.

Ed kept his face as devoid of emotion as he could, and made note of the fact that the same impassive expression was on Grumman's face. Knowing Hawkeye as well as he did, he could picture the blank, professional mask that she habitually wore. He took a careful look around the rest of the table. General Jones didn't look like he was buying what Widdon was trying to sell, and he thought that General Sayer might not be interested in Widdon's words for the reason Ed had assumed she was.

"Furthermore, it's a waste of taxpayer money to continue this investigation as well as everyone's time when we all know what the end result will be. General Combes and I believe that the evidence gathered against Mustang during the original investigation headed up by Lieutenant Colonel Brookes is more than enough to send Mustang to trial today and there was no reason to allow Mustang's defense an additional week to retrace the same steps that Brookes followed in his investigation."

Ed checked the urge to snarl. "First of all, _General_, there isn't any money coming from the citizens of this country while we investigate. None of the foreign specialists are being paid by this administration in anyway – _I'm _picking up the tab for their food, and civilian consultants are allowed use of the military dorms with approval from the Office of Military Housing. But if that's really an issue you're going to take up, I'll put them up in a hotel myself, paid for out of my earnings as a State Alchemist."

Widdon's smug expression faded and changed to one of irritation – Ed assumed it was because of how easily he'd countered one of the arguments. Before the other officer could say anything in rebuttal, Edward continued. "Secondly, Lieutenant General Armstrong's testimony isn't iron-clad. She couldn't positively identify Mustang as her attacker, and a further interview with her has revealed other details about her attacker that _don't_ point to Mustang."

"General Armstrong saw sparks coming from her attacker's gloves!" Combes argued. "What more do you need?"

"Have you ever actually _seen _Mustang use his flame alchemy?" Ed shot back. "Because I _have_, and I can vouch for the fact that Mustang needs almost no time to use it, thanks to the way his transmutation circle is stitched into his gloves. It takes him less than a second to ignite a flame. If he really was the one behind this, General Armstrong would be dead. It's that simple. He wouldn't have left her alive."

"He wasn't expecting her to fight back!" Combes replied. "Her resistance threw him off, and then he was interrupted by the waitress who found the General."

"Bullshit," Ed declared. "Mustang would only have needed the length of time it would have taken him to snap his fingers to finish General Armstrong off, _and_ he's a veteran of Ishval. He wouldn't have been startled just because General Armstrong fought back. Mustang personally fought and defeated _two_ of the homunculi with his alchemy – he's the only person in Amestris with that credit to his name." He felt Hawkeye brush his back again, gently, no doubt warning him for his language.

"You're just saying that because he's your commanding officer," Widdon accused.

Edward scoffed. "With every word you say, you're just continuing to prove how much of an idiot you are."

"How dare you-?"

"Fine, if you don't want to take my word for it, then go ahead and ask Captain Hawkeye," Edward declared, ignoring Widdon's protest. "She's served with Mustang ever since the Ishval War ended, and she's been by his side every single day for years, except for the short period of time when Bradley made her his personal assistant."

"Captain Hawkeye? Can you verify what Lieutenant Colonel Elric is saying?" General Sayer asked.

"I can, General Sayer," Hawkeye said simply. "Furthermore, I know just how skilled Brigadier General Mustang is with his alchemy, since my father was his teacher during his early training. I've known him for many years, and I can say with confidence that he wouldn't commit these crimes."

"Whether or not Mustang committed these crimes isn't the issue at hand," General Brathwaite intervened. "The issue at stake is whether or not we should allow General Widdon and General Combes to convene Mustang's court martial. He'll get his trial, and it will be up to the officers involved in that trial to determine his innocence or guilt."

Grumman had been listening quietly up to this point, and now raised a hand and drew all attention back to himself. He regarded the group for a moment. "Originally, I promised Lieutenant Colonel Elric and his team a full week to investigate, with the goal of either finding an alternate suspect who could be involved in these crimes, or at least to help Mustang prepare a defense before his court-martial was convened." The other generals who weren't aware of the arrangement nodded to show their understanding. "Lieutenant Colonel Elric, you stated that a further interview with Lieutenant General Armstrong had revealed more information about her attacker, and as General Widdon has pointed out, today is the fourth day of the week I originally granted you. Are you able to give us a report of your findings to this point? I believe that any decision made on this subject should be made when everyone has the same information."

"I second that," General Jones said. "Before we make any decision, we need to know if General Widdon's claim that this is a pointless endeavor can be substantiated." Brathwaite and Sayer also nodded in agreement. General Smythe didn't seem to agree, and Widdon and Combes looked displeased as well, if their scowls were anything to go by. Ed wondered if Smythe was already aware of the situation or if he had been lied to by Widdon and Combes in an effort to get an ally on their side before the meeting even began.

"Would you like to hear the report from me, or would you prefer a report from the team leader of the foreign consultants?" Edward asked, keeping his voice as respectful as he could manage and his eyes fixed on Grumman, ignoring the rest of the generals.

"We don't have time to waste for you to go back to your office to get someone," Widdon scoffed.

"Disregarding the fact that there is such a thing as a telephone and I could just make a quick phone call to ask First Lieutenant Havoc to escort him up here," Edward's tone changed to sarcastically condescending, but Hawkeye didn't give him a signal to ease up, so he continued, "we figured that this meeting would be all about you trying to bully everyone into pushing Mustang's trial forward so you don't have to worry about us finding the person whose really behind these crimes. So, we asked Mr. Hotchner to come with us. He's waiting right outside in Samantha's office in case we needed him to provide a report."

Grumman rewarded this statement with a proud smile that disappeared almost as soon as Ed saw it, while the reactions of the other generals varied from surprise (Smythe and Brathwaite), approval (Jones and Sayer), and irritation (Combes and Widdon). "Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Elric. We would like to hear from Mr. Hotchner. Captain Hawkeye, would you please escort him in?"

Hawkeye saluted before heading for the door to do as she was asked. Edward leaned back in his seat, repressing the urge to smirk at this success. He didn't have any doubt that Hotch would be able to persuade the generals that they should get the rest of the week they'd been promised.

"Führer Grumman, sir, this is preposterous! We don't need to hear from a group of foreigners. We already know that this is just a desperate ploy to try and manipulate us into believing there's a chance that Mustang is actually innocent. Our evidence proves that he isn't!" Combes cried indignantly as Hawkeye reappeared in the doorway with Hotch right behind her.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, General Combes, but we're here for you and General Widdon to try and get Führer Grumman to grant you permission to have Mustang's trial convened," Ed intervened before Grumman could reply. Combes started to puff up like an angry alley cat, but Ed didn't let him say anything further before he continued. "That means that Mustang's trial _hasn't_ started yet, and he _hasn't_ been convicted of anything by a panel of jurors made up of his peers. What that means is that you are, once again, ignoring the whole 'innocent until proven guilty in a court of law' concept. Seriously, you need to stop by Medical after this meeting and ask them to check you for dementia or whatever condition you have that is causing your selective memory loss."

"Führer Grumman, Generals," Hawkeye stated before anyone could reply to Ed's sarcasm, "this is Mr. Aaron Hotchner, the team leader of the group of consultants working in conjunction with Lieutenant Colonel Elric's team on Brigadier General Mustang's defense." She nodded, before moving to resume her place behind Ed as Hotch moved to stand at the end of the table. The agent took up a modified version of the parade rest stance Hawkeye was using. The agent nodded respectfully, a blank expression on his face.

"It's good to see you again, Mr. Hotchner," Grumman said warmly and honestly. "Would you be willing to give us a report on everything you and your team have found out in the last three days?"

"Of course, sir," Hotch replied. He stood straight-backed and clasped his hands behind his back. For the purposes of maintaining respectful and non-threatening, Ed knew that he'd left his weapons in the office with Rossi and Morgan. "As I haven't met all of you before, I'd like to begin by giving you a little bit of background about our methods and specialties, if I may." At Grumman's nod, Hotch nodded back. "My team is a group of highly trained investigators who specialise in a method known as behavioural analysis."

"Behavioural analysis?" Jones asked, interrupting Hotch. To his credit, Hotch didn't seem to mind the interruption.

"Yes, General. You might have heard of it as profiling. As a team, we are available to any local law enforcement department in our country. Officers can either send their case files to us to look over and provide a profile in return, or, in many cases, we'll travel to that city to assist in the apprehension of a criminal in person. When we are called in to assist with a case, we always look at several factors: the physical evidence left behind at the crime scene, the behaviour of the criminal, and something that we call victimology – the study of the victim in the crime. Using these factors, we then apply our training, our knowledge of psychology and sociology, as well as historical and legal precedent to build a behavioural and psychological profile of the suspect. Once we have that profile, we begin applying it to the list of potential suspects in order to narrow down the identity of the criminal. We are also able to use the profile to help predict when and where the suspect will strike next."

Edward noticed the skeptical looks on the faces of Combes, Widdon, and Smythe. The rest of the generals had more neutral expressions on their faces, so it was hard to read what they thought about what Hotch was saying. He could only hope that they would at least be open-minded enough to give a fair consideration to whether or not they would get the days remaining to them.

"Whenever we begin an investigation, we always take an objective look at the case. We never look at suspect lists, law enforcement records of convicted criminals, or any previously formed conclusions made by the officers we are there to assist. This allows us to keep our perspective unbiased," Hotch continued. "Once Führer Grumman gave us permission to investigate this case, we approached it in the same way that we would approach any other case. We began by reviewing the case files assembled by Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and his team to make sure we had a thorough understanding of the crimes to date. Primarily, we wanted to make sure that we reviewed the evidence that had been collected at the scene, the interviews that had already been completed, and the backgrounds on the victims. We were aware, of course, that Brigadier General Mustang was and remains the primary suspect. We have been keeping that possibility open, but we have also been looking for any evidence that someone else could be involved. One of the things that we've learned over the many years that our country has been using behavioural analysis is that it is often not the most obvious suspect, even if they do seem to match the profile."

"If you put such stock in these profiles of yours, yet you disregard them because of the person who matches to them, what use are they?" Combes snapped rudely. Ed bristled on Hotch's behalf, but Hawkeye placed her hand against his back again, restraining him without actually doing so.

"A psychological profile is only a tool, General," Hotch said calmly, not rising to the bait. "There is not any one single behaviour that suggests a greater level of threat than another, and often behaviour can have various interpretations, depending upon the context. In addition to the profile, we look at the physical evidence, the connections that the suspect has to the victims, and the suspect's motives in committing the crime, or lack thereof."

"This is quite interesting, Mr. Hotchner. What can you tell us about this particular situation?" Grumman asked.

"This case has some unusual elements that we haven't encountered before. However, based on our previous experience, we have been able to discern some interesting facts, connections, and conclusions about the unsub in this case," Hotch was about to continue when he was interrupted again.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Hotchner, but 'unsub'?" Brathwaite asked, a look of confusion on his face at the unfamiliar word.

"My apologies, General. 'Unsub' is a term we use in our field, but it's simply a contraction of the words 'unknown subject' – the killer, in this case," Hotch explained and the general nodded to indicate he was following again. "Almost immediately, the first thing we noticed about his case was the unsub's methodology. Each victim was found in an alley behind a popular bar, which is a potentially high-risk location for a crime of this nature. If the victims had screamed or put up a fight, it could have drawn the attention of the patrons in the bar or other people passing by on the street. Furthermore, all of the victims were trained, mid-to-high-ranking military officers, whom we would classify as low-risk victims who would be unlikely to be attacked in this fashion. They would be a high-risk series of targets to the offender as they would have self-defense training and would be more likely to be able to defend themselves."

The generals – save for Combes and Widdon that was – were nodding in agreement at the points Hotch was raising, which filled Ed with a little more hope that this could go their way. It was still early to say for sure, but Ed was sure that if Hotch's points alone weren't enough, the common sense arguments they'd already raised might just be enough. He just wished he knew more about the generals to be certain.

"Thanks to our review of the case files, a visit to the three most recent crime scenes with Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, and a further interview with Lieutenant General Armstrong, we believe that we were able to reconstruct how the attacks occurred," Hotch told them. "Based on the information we've been able to gather, the unsub appeared to have used a recording of a woman crying for help to lure the victims into the alleyway. Once the victims were deep into the alley and away from an easy escape back onto the street, they were ambushed from behind – a blitz attack with overpowering force. The fact that the unsub resorted to a blitz attack could indicate that he didn't feel as if he could handle the victim face-to-face, so he used unexpected and overwhelming force to gain quick and decisive control of the situation with minimum risk to himself."

"As Lieutenant Colonel Elric pointed out, Mustang served on the front lines in Ishval and is an accomplished combatant, both with and without his alchemy," General Jones said thoughtfully.

"None of this eliminates Mustang as a suspect," Widdon said stubbornly. "He could easily have ambushed the victims in order to avoid a fight."

"And we haven't eliminated General Mustang as a suspect yet," Hotch explained. "As I said, we consider all the facts, build a profile of the unsub, and only then begin applying the profile to lists of suspects to help narrow them down to identifying an unsub," Hotch informed them. "One of the techniques we use when dealing with living victims or eyewitnesses is a sensory memory recall technique called a cognitive interview. The subconscious mind is incredibly good at noticing small details around it, but often the conscious mind suppresses those details, especially when adrenaline is flowing and the body is in a 'fight or flight' mode." Ed noted that Hotch would make an excellent lecturer if he ever decided to leave the BAU.

"General Armstrong consented to an interview where we utilised this technique. She was asked to recount her attack to us again, and at intervals my team member asked her questions about small details that she likely noticed subconsciously, like scents, sounds, or how something felt when she touched it. From this interview, we were able to determine several significant details about her attacker. While she had previously stated that her attacker wore the gender-neutral version of the military uniform and was unable to state with absolute certainty if her attacker was male or female, she did recall that the uniform jacket was missing a button, as she could clearly see the light blue dress shirt the attacker wore underneath it before she was struck on the head and her vision became unreliable. A search of the previous crime scenes has not resulted in the button being found and Lieutenant Colonel Brookes stated that no button was found during their initial searches either," Hotch revealed.

"Mr. Hotchner, may I say something?" Edward asked politely when Hotch paused for breath. The agent nodded and Edward faced the generals. "Yesterday I accompanied General Widdon, General Combes, and Captain Hawkeye when they executed the search warrant on General Mustang's home. While we were there, I checked General Mustang's uniforms. All of his issued uniforms were present, both the winter and the summer variants. I checked every single jacket, and none of them were missing a button. There was no evidence that he had used alchemy to repair any of the uniforms, and the wear and tear on all the uniforms was consistent – there was no evidence that they had been repaired in a more traditional manner."

Brathwaite, Jones, and Sayer all nodded in response to Edward's statement, but he could tell from their expressions that it was more just an acknowledgement of what he'd said than any sort of agreement with the point he'd raised. They returned their attention to Hotch, who continued. "We also know, based on General Armstrong's description of her attacker and how he moved that the attacker is likely the same height or slightly shorter than General Armstrong, as well as having a slender and agile build. The alleyway was narrow, and General Armstrong detected the trap and stopped in a location that would have been extremely awkward for the attacker to slip past her, but somehow the unsub managed that feat. Because we believe that the unsub is in the military, he most likely received basic hand-to-hand combat training, but limited training in stealth, as he reacted in surprise once she detected the trap. We also believe that the attacker may not be particularly strong or confident in his combat skills or hasn't kept up with his training in recent months."

"And why is that?" General Jones asked. "Military officers are expected to maintain a certain level of fitness in the event they are sent out on the front lines of a conflict."

"He wasn't able to take General Armstrong down with a single hit the way he was with Bryce, Pardi, and Summers," Hotch explained. "He also got winded during the brief scuffle with General Armstrong and had difficulty in controlling his breathing once she was down. Further, he had to rely on a blitz attack in every case except for the attacks on General Henley and General Andrews."

"Why were they the exceptions, Mr. Hotchner?" General Sayer inquired.

"There was evidence at Andrews' crime scene that he fought back against his attacker. As I stated, we believe that the unsub used the lure of a woman's voice calling for help over and over. It worked, but Andrews figured out that it was a trap. The unsub still managed to hit Andrews much as he did Armstrong, as evidenced by the autopsy report, and that initial blow was enough to turn the fight against Andrews, despite his efforts to defend himself. The same would have happened to General Armstrong if not for the timing of the waitress who found her. As for General Henley, Lieutenant Colonel Elric and my team are in agreement that she was not likely to have been lured in using the same technique as General Andrews and General Armstrong."

The only reason that Edward didn't complain about Hotch using his military rank was because, during their discussion earlier about how to handle this meeting, they'd decided that, in order to appear neutral and open minded, Hotch needed to be professional and formal in front of the generals and Grumman. This meant using everyone's military rank, even though he sighed at his friend addressing him so formally.

"How do you believe the killer lured her into the alleyway than?" General Jones asked, and his tone indicated that he was genuinely curious, rather than irritated. Hotch looked at Edward, who nodded and turned his attention to Jones.

"In the months before her death, Henley had become extremely paranoid and distrusting of everyone. She'd accused several soldiers of working for Mustang or me and trying to spy on her. She also wasn't very nice. I seriously doubt, given how paranoid she had become, that she would've gone out of her way to help anyone in an alleyway. She also wouldn't have followed just anyone into the alley, since as I said she was under the delusion that Mustang and I had control of every lower-ranked soldier in Central." Ed rolled his eyes. "We think that whoever attacked her lured her into the alley with a promise of some dirt on us or some information to help her fight against the charges we were hoping to lay against her."

"It was thanks to our investigation of General Henley's crime scene," Hotch continued smoothly, stopping Widdon and Combes from making their thoughts on Edward's theory known, "that we also found out that the attacker's dominant hand is their left, given the location of the wound on Henley's head and the way her body was found positioned in the alley when it was discovered. We believe that, unlike the other victims, Henley very well may have been the only victim who got a clear look at the unsub before she was struck over the head and knocked unconscious, as she wouldn't have followed the voice of someone she hadn't gotten a good look at. We also learned from that scene that the attacker is likely an alchemist, however, I would prefer to let Lieutenant Colonel Elric discuss our findings as they relate to his area of expertise."

Grumman nodded in agreement. "We'll hear from Lieutenant Colonel Elric in a moment then. Thank you for summarizing what you've learned so far. Now that you've had a chance to review the case files and revisit the scenes, have you begun developing a profile for this particular killer yet, Mr. Hotchner?"

"We have begun developing a preliminary profile, Your Excellency. We are continuing to revise it and add to it as we gather more information and investigate further. While we're still waiting for a few more interviews to be conducted and the rest of the lab reports to come in before we finalize it, we base our profiles on several factors, as I previously mentioned. First is the physical evidence, second is the psychological evidence we're able to extrapolate based on the behaviour the killer demonstrates in the way he acts at the scene and the way he treats the victims. Third, we turn to historical precedent. Some of the first questions that we always ask after reviewing the case files is why and what? More specifically, we ask, 'why this victim; why this method?' What is the significance to the unsub? What do the scenes and the suspect's behaviour tell us about him? Did he show any signs of remorse? What about signs of hatred, rage, or jealousy?"

"Those are too subjective to be of any value!" Combes protested.

"Forgive me, General Combes, but I disagree," Hotch replied calmly. "Most law enforcement officers aren't trained to look for the things that my team and I are, so the emotional state of the killer can make a significant impact. We look for significant changes in patterns of behaviour over a period of time. Past behaviour is a good indicator of future behaviour, but recent past behaviour is even better. Many serial killers lash out at people who remind them of one particular person – a lover who broke their heart, someone they see as an enemy, a parent who was never proud of them and never showed any affection. Others retaliate against their co-workers or employers after suffering a professional setback like a reprimand or a layoff, and still others crack under the weight of a personal difficulty, like financial worries or romantic troubles. In every case, violence becomes a way to regain control over their lives, but when they aren't able to regain that control, the killer lashes out again and again, slowly devolving until they reach a psychological breaking point where nothing short of death will stop them."

"What you just said, about killers going after someone they see as an enemy, or lashing out against a co-worker or superior, that does describe Mustang. He did have adversarial relationships with or something to gain from killing each victim," Smythe said, glancing at Widdon and Combes like he was looking for approval. Ed wasn't sure whether he wanted to smack him or throw up more.

"On the surface it would appear that way," Hotch said. "But, when you look beyond the surface and the obvious, some interesting contradictions present themselves. Earlier I said that my team would classify these attacks as high-risk to the attacker, even though the targets themselves would be considered low-risk. Normally, this would indicate to us that the unsub is most likely a disorganised offender. Disorganised offenders tend to be impulsive and erratic in their behaviour, and are more likely to leave behind evidence linking them to the crime at the scene."

"You said normally," General Sayer observed. "Does that mean that you have a different opinion in this case?"

"Yes," Hotch replied. "The nature of the crime scenes, the level of control exerted by the unsub, and the fact that there was so little evidence left behind also indicates to us that the unsub could be classified as organised. Organised killers are methodical, detail-oriented, and they always take the time and effort to plan out their crimes and remove any evidence of their presence from the scene."

"So how would you explain that contradiction? I'm assuming a killer cannot be both organised and disorganised?" the Führer's tone was even, but curious.

"Correct. Because of this, we look at the other facts we've gathered. While it's true that Captain Bryce and General Mustang had an admitted dislike for each other stemming from their days at the military academy, they hadn't had any contact since the academy until the night Bryce was killed. They weren't posted to the same locations, they never served under the same commander, Mustang was never placed in command of Bryce, and they certainly didn't travel in the same social circles. Although they did have an altercation on that night, Mustang ultimately did Bryce a favour by not putting him on report for conduct unbecoming of an officer. From witness statements, Mustang would have had every right to do so, but because no one was hurt in the altercation and the bar's bouncer stepped in before it became physical, he declined to do so. For him to then turn around and burn Bryce to death in the alley less than an hour later seems impractical and illogical."

"But not impossible," Widdon said. "Everything you said about being detail-oriented would describe Mustang as well."

Edward rolled his eyes. "Nothing is impossible and if you keep interrupting Mr. Hotchner, we're never going to get anywhere with this. Just be quiet and let the man talk already."

Widdon glared at Edward but didn't comment any further. Hotch took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing.

"Major Pardi was indirectly placed under Mustang's command once Mustang was promoted to brigadier general, but Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' investigation shows that they have not had any interaction in that time because Pardi was under disciplinary action assigned by Major General Andrews, which meant he wasn't taking any assignments from General Mustang until the disciplinary period had ended. Mustang stated that he had never met Pardi as he hadn't been made a State Alchemist until just before the Promised Day, at which time Pardi had been assigned to work in Ishval to aid in the reconstruction efforts. His return from Ishval found him being subjected to the disciplinary action imposed by Andrews because Pardi was lobbying for Mustang to be prosecuted for war crimes, despite the fact that he'd already been pardoned and that Pardi had been ordered to cease his lobbying. This made Pardi an annoyance certainly, but not a serious threat to the general.

"As for Colonel Summers, the root of his anger with General Mustang is jealousy over the fact that Mustang is so young to hold the rank he currently does. Once again Brookes' investigation and our own follow-up interviews have not revealed any prior personal contact between the colonel and the general. They didn't move in the same social circles, and Summers wasn't a State Alchemist so he wasn't under Mustang's command, other than the fact that Mustang outranked him. The lack of contact between the first three victims and Mustang makes it very unlikely that he would have anything to do with it – they weren't a threat to him or his position within the military because they were lower ranked than he was and if they had become a threat, the General would have had other methods of recourse than killing them in a dark alley."

"What about Henley? Lieutenant Colonel Elric admitted that Mustang was her enemy because of the investigation he was conducting against her," Widdon said triumphantly. "And it was no secret that with General Andrews' death, Mustang stood to gain even more power since he was the most likely person to fill Andrews' position."

Hotch nodded. "Henley was the first victim which I would agree Mustang had a true adversarial relationship with. Just being enemies with someone, however, doesn't mean that you will lash out at them and attack them." Hotch told them. "However, this unsub went from targeting Mustang's rivals or admitted enemies to targeting the one person whose death would directly benefit Mustang, only to turn around and go after General Armstrong, who – while she may not have liked Mustang personally – admits that she would consider him a tentative ally if the situation called for it. There are not many serial killers who would drastically change their motivation for killing in the way this unsub did by targeting Andrews."

"What about the fact that they were all burned?" Sayer asked. "General Mustang is the Flame Alchemist and fire is one of his preferred weapons of choice if he has to fight."

Hotch nodded. "And we haven't eliminated him completely since we are continuing to wait for a few more pieces of information, especially a final confirmation on whether there were any traces of accelerant found on the bodies or in the alleys. The lab still has some outstanding tests that they are waiting for results on, but they have completed a few of them and they have hopes that the remaining test results will be in within a few days."

Grumman straightened with interest. "What results?"

"They've run ballistics on the weapons carried by some of the victims to see if any of them were able to fire at their attacker, but all tests came back negative. They also found blood at General Andrews' crime scene that was not from him but was spilled at the same time as his was. The blood samples were typed and while the results do match Brigadier General Mustang, they also match thirty percent of the Amestrian population," Hotch added the last part when Combes and Widdon looked like they were going to say something. "They're also running comparisons on the fingerprints, fibers, and hairs found at the scenes, but we've been informed not to expect any definitive results that will help the prosecution."

"Why is that, Mr. Hotchner?" Brathwaite asked. "If those results provide proof that Mustang was in the alleyway, why wouldn't the prosecution use them?" Widdon and Combes were nodding emphatically in agreement, like this question proved their whole argument.

"Simply because the crime scenes are irregularly cleaned and are open to the public. In my professional opinion, those samples would harm the prosecution's case as much as it would support it. Prior to joining this unit, I worked as a prosecutor for my country's government, and while those results would appear to be beneficial to the prosecution, they would also help the defense, as General Mustang's lawyer could argue that he was indeed in that alley, but it was days or even weeks earlier and that's how his fingerprints or hairs ended up there. General Mustang has admitted to having frequented all of the bars where the victims were found in the past. My understanding is that none of the fingerprints or hairs were found with any of the victims' blood on them, so there's nothing to directly link them to the timeframe in which the attacks occurred. Any fibers that match his uniform would be laughed out of court. After all, those fibers could come from the uniform of any military officer," Hotch explained, giving a pointed look at the military blue that everyone except Edward was wearing. Most of the generals nodded in acceptance at his words.

"Anything else, Mr. Hotchner?" Grumman asked, hoping to keep the meeting on track before Combes or Widdon found a way to complain about something.

"There was also evidence at the scenes and in the crime scene photos taken by Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' team that indicated that an accelerant may have been used. The burn patterns on the bodies and scorch marks at the crime scene certainly support the use of an accelerant," Hotch replied. "Serial killers who use fire are exceedingly rare. Less than one percent of serial killer victims are killed by being burned, although many killers do burn the bodies after death as a way to dispose of the remains and/or evidence left behind."

"That could simply be Mustang attempting to throw this investigation off!" Widdon objected.

"However, based on my experience and the experience of my team, the fact that the victims _were_ burned makes it less likely that Mustang could be behind these crimes. As the only flame alchemist in the country, using fire to kill these victims would be like signing his name to the crime scenes and General Mustang's record indicates a high level of intelligence – too high for him to make that sort of mistake five times over. Especially since we believe this killer falls more into the classification of an organised killer where every piece of evidence is taken into consideration and every move is carefully thought out. There are simply too many things that the killer did right – planning the scene of the attack, arriving with the implements needed to lure the victims into those alleyways, possibly bringing along an accelerant that either burned up completely or wouldn't leave any detectable trace, knowing enough about Mustang's habits and relationships with the victims to be able to single these six out for elimination – for us to believe that they overlooked who would be the prime suspect when the cause of death was learned."

Combes and Widdon grumbled openly at that statement. Grumman stared them down for a moment. "Mr. Hotchner, we will hear from Lieutenant Colonel Elric next, but what further avenues of investigation do you still have ahead of you, since you stated that you were still waiting on a few things?"

"One of my team members, Ms. Jareau, is a media specialist. Among other things, she is our team's liaison with reporters, journalists, and the law enforcement officers we assist. She sorts through any media coverage of the cases we take on and will speak to the reporters or radio hosts to find out if they've had any contact with the unsub, where they got their information for their articles, and release statements from our team to the general public if we are looking for witnesses or for anyone to report a sighting of the suspect."

Ed thought he saw Combes and Widdon pale slightly at the mention of where the media got their information, but neither said anything and Ed wasn't going to call them out for fear of Hawkeye's disapproval at causing a scene unnecessarily.

"She's been reading every article she could find pertaining to the investigation and the murders and has found a few articles interesting enough to warrant her going to speak to the journalists of the aforementioned articles with another member of our team and an escort from Lieutenant Colonel Elric's team today. Others on my team are going to speak to the coroner who conducted the autopsies on the victims, as well as another coroner who is intimately familiar with how confirmed victims of General Mustang look when they arrive on his table," Hotch continued. "Tomorrow we may have more leads to follow based on these interviews and more test results arriving from the crime lab."

"Was there anything else, Mr. Hotchner?" Grumman asked.

"No, Your Excellency. The only other thing left that hasn't been discussed is the alchemy, which Lieutenant Colonel Elric will explain."

The generals and Grumman all turned their attention over to Edward, who leaned forward and tried his best to adopt the sort of serious expression Mustang did during mission briefings or when dealing with a superior officer. It felt weird, but he focused on what he needed to tell them.

"We believe this killer to be an alchemist, based on some signs that we found while examining the scenes where General Henley, General Andrews, and General Armstrong were attacked," Edward began.

"You even admit it, Lieutenant Colonel," Widdon said. "Mustang is an alchemist and you just said that an alchemist committed these crimes. Obviously, he left signs but you still refuse to admit he could be behind this. Instead, you're clinging to some delusion that there just happens to be another flame alchemist out there."

"That's some next level bullshit and I'm honestly a little impressed that you managed to twist what I just said that much," Ed declared before talking over Widdon when he tried to say something more. "In case you happened to miss pretty much everything Mr. Hotchner," using Hotch's full name was weird and Ed didn't like it, "just spent a lot of time explaining to you when he could have been investigating things further, we _don't_ think there's a second flame alchemist out there. That would be impossible, since Mustang is the only living person with knowledge of flame alchemy. I'm his subordinate and a known alchemic prodigy and I _still_ don't know the secrets of flame alchemy, though I am gonna be honest and admit it's because I don't particularly want to know how flame alchemy works. Now, because you clearly didn't hear Mr. Hotchner any of the times he said it, I'll repeat it once more for you." Ed glared at Widdon. "We believe there was an accelerant poured onto the bodies once the victims were knocked out and they were set alight with a match or a lighter. Honestly, it was seriously amazing to witness you pulling that claim out of thin air." Ed rolled his eyes to show his impressed tone was complete sarcasm.

"If I may," General Sayer interrupted, "would you please get back to the subject at hand?"

Ed nodded. "Sure, General Sayer. I accompanied the team consisting of my brother, Mr. Hotchner, Mr. Morgan, Dr. Reid, and Lieutenant Colonel Brookes to the three scenes I mentioned before General Widdon interrupted and investigated alongside them. At the crime scenes of General Armstrong and General Andrews, my brother and I found evidence of alchemy having been used recently. Despite what General Widdon and General Combes seem to believe, flame alchemy doesn't leave behind evidence of its use in the same manner as other alchemic transmutations. Flame alchemy doesn't transmute something physical like earth or wood, which means it leaves no marks. What it does do is leave behind all of the common indicators of fire being used in that location, like soot or scorch marks. It's very similar to when I use my tracking array or draw moisture out of the air for a freezing transmutation. The arrays used in the two alleys were earth arrays, used to manipulate the wall of the alley to create a barricade of sorts, roughly two meters high and half a meter wide for the killer to hide behind while their lure drew the generals in. The wall was then alchemised back to its original state, but there was still evidence left behind of the transmutations."

"But this wasn't found at General Henley's crime scene?" Jones asked.

Edward nodded again. "No, it wasn't and we think that's because she was lured in differently than the others were. Until we get a confession from the real killer or someone figures out how to communicate with the dead to ask Henley herself, we won't know for certain, but like I said earlier, she was extremely paranoid and distrustful of just about everyone. Even before our investigation into her actions on the Promised Day began, she was reported to be a bitch who wouldn't lift a finger to help others unless she could see a way that it benefited her somehow," Ed told them unabashedly.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric," General Sayer said, drawing his attention to her. "Why was the wall you claim that the killer transmuted to hide behind not mentioned in any of the reports filed by Lieutenant Colonel Brookes?"

"Because the killer returned the wall to its original state before leaving the scene," Edward stated. "He was interrupted in his attack on General Armstrong, but we have a theory that he returned to the scene after General Armstrong was taken to the hospital and slipped past the guards that were stationed at the mouth of the alley long enough to transmute the wall back and retrieve the voice recorder he used as the lure."

"Your proof of this claim?" Widdon demanded.

Edward looked over at Hotch, since it was Morgan who had interviewed the two guards. "Mr. Hotchner?" The generals returned their attention to the agent as well.

"There is the chance that the two guards assigned to watch the alley-way where General Armstrong was attacked were distracted by the attacker so their attention would be diverted to investigating the suspicious noise, granting the suspect a small window of opportunity to gather any evidence, such as the voice recorder, they may have left behind in their haste." Hotch told them. "Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, a member of my team and a member of Lieutenant Colonel Elric's team interviewed the soldiers and determined neither man did anything that required punishment for their actions." Hotch added.

Ed smirked internally. Widdon and Combes had looked mad that the suspect had managed to slip past two guards – whether it was because it meant they hadn't seen Mustang or because the attacker had grabbed evidence that could have proven Mustang's supposed guilt, Ed didn't know – and Ed wouldn't have put it passed them to find some way of uncovering who the soldiers were and punishing them themselves.

"What happened with the guards?" Grumman asked.

"While they both stood guard, they both heard a noise and observed a large shadow in the mouth of a neighbouring alleyway. Deeming it too large to belong to a stray cat or dog, one of the guards left their post to investigate, suspecting the criminal had returned to the scene of the crime. While he was away from their post, the second guard watched both alleyways. Since the attacker was still at large and had been targeting military members, the guard left at the entrance of the alleyway feared for his companion's safety and watched the second alley-way more closely than the one he was assigned to guard in case he needed to go and help his partner. After only a few minutes, his partner emerged from the second alley-way unscathed and reported that he couldn't find anything. They both checked the crime scene and didn't notice anything amiss so didn't bother reporting the disturbance. The guard that had remained told his interviewers that he didn't hear or see anything in the alley-way to cause any kind of suspicion," Hotch reported to Grumman, who nodded.

"Given the circumstances, I doubt you would have found anyone who wouldn't have feared for their partner's safety if they had headed into an alley to investigate a suspicious noise and shadow. I agree with Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' decision that neither man deserved punishment," Grumman said. His words made it clear that if they were punished, Grumman would not be impressed. "Was there anything else in your report, Mr. Hotchner?" Grumman asked.

"No, Führer Grumman. We may have more information later once my team completes the interviews we have scheduled today, and we are hoping to have the lab results back by the end of today or sometime tomorrow if everything proceeds at the pace the lab is hoping for."

"Very well. Thank you for your time today, Mr. Hotchner. I assume that if your team uncovers anything today, it will be passed along to Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and Lieutenant Colonel Elric, as well as myself, as per our agreement?" Grumman asked and Hotch nodded. "Excellent. Captain Hawkeye will escort you back out of the room." Grumman nodded to Hawkeye, who immediately moved to stand next to Hotch. "Have a good day, Mr. Hotchner," Grumman said, inclining his head.

"You as well, Your Excellency," Hotch said, inclining his head respectfully as Hawkeye left her place behind Ed and moved to stand beside him. "Generals, thank you for your attention." He nodded at them before following Hawkeye out of the room. The fact that Hawkeye had barely closed the door before opening it again and entering the room to take up her position behind Ed told the blonde alchemist that Hotch had chosen to simply wait for the meeting to be over before accompanying the two of them back to Mustang's office.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric, did you have anything further to add?" Grumman asked.

"Only that the lack of transmutation marks led us to the conclusion that whoever killed Henley used other means to get her into that alley at that time of night. The only thing we could think of is if they offered her something to help her against the accusations we were trying to prove," Ed repeated his earlier statement, but it was worth it to see the way Widdon and Combes spluttered at his description of Henley.

"If General Henley was as you say, exceptionally paranoid, she would never have entered the alley with yourself, Brigadier General Mustang nor any of your known associates," Brathwaite said contemplatively. Ed nodded in agreement and he saw Hawkeye give a sharp nod of her own.

"It doesn't mean that Mustang didn't hire someone to lure Henley into that alley before he took her out himself! He spent so much time to try and prove she was guilty of something she wasn't and he knew he'd never be able to arrest her! It made him desperate," Combes accused blusteringly.

Ed thought he heard the slightest amount of desperation in his voice. Smythe looked like he was struggling to hold onto his belief in Widdon and Combes. Sayer, Brathwaite and Jones all raised a brow at him. Ed glanced at Grumman before looking back at Hawkeye, who must've read his mind and known what he was silently asking her as she gave him a nod.

"No one but Mustang's team and the Führer knew this, but Mustang was a week away from arresting Henley before her death. We just needed a couple of final reports to come in before he could lay the charges on her," Ed told them and watched with a slight amount of pleasure as Widdon and Combes' struggled to try and argue against that. This information had Sayer, Brathwaite and Jones sit back contemplatively as they studied Ed silently.

"It's true. I have the case files and evidence reports they'd gathered including the reports they had been waiting for when Brigadier General Henley was killed. If you wish, I can make them available to you for you to read at your leisure," Grumman backed Ed's claim up, earning a silent thank you from the blond alchemist.

"Why would Mustang murder someone he was a week away from arresting after spending months investigating them? Surely it makes far more sense for him to have killed Henley during a time when the investigation looked like it wouldn't pan out in his favour? There must've been a period in those months like that?" Jones looked at Ed when he asked and Ed nodded.

"Before his promotion and after the first classified mission Mustang and I undertook for the Führer, there were three weeks where all we seemed to be doing was hitting dead ends. We obviously managed to find a lead that gave the case new life but, yeah, there was a period there where it looked like she might get away with her crimes," Ed told him, ignoring everyone else at the table. That had been a tense three weeks. Ed hadn't been sure who would snap first during that time; him or Mustang.

"That's when I would've expected Henley's murder at the hands of Mustang, not a week out from her arrest," Jones said. Ed could see the moment when Widdon and Combes realised what Jones was implying. "I'll admit that when I heard that Mustang was the suspect and then arrested, I couldn't believe it because I've met Mustang before on several occasions. I wouldn't have thought he would be the one behind all of this. I'll be the first to admit that I believe Lieutenant Colonel Elric's claims that Mustang is being framed and this information about General Henley further solidifies my belief," Jones said and Ed was shocked. A glance at the others at the table showed Ed that he wasn't the only one who was shocked, even Grumman, who was looking mildly surprised at Jones' unabashed statement.

"You're biased! You can't be trusted to make the right decision if you're so blatantly biased!" Combes decreed. "I demand General Jones be removed from this meeting!" Combes glared at Grumman, who didn't even twitch under his gaze.

"If I order Major-General Jones' removal from this gathering, I would also have to order yours, General Widdon's and Lieutenant-Colonel Elric's removal as well for the exact same reason. The three of you are biased and outspoken in your bias," Grumman told Combes matter-of-factly. "Do you wish for me to make that order?" He asked, placing his elbows on the table in front of him and clasping his hands together, looking at Combes with a raised, questioning brow.

"No, Sir. That won't be necessary," Widdon managed to say without much of a growl as Combes glared murderously at Grumman.

"Very well. Let's finish this meeting up than, shall we? I'm sure everyone would appreciate it if we could make a decision and move on with our days," Grumman said, leaning back slightly. "We've heard from Mr. Hotchner about the progress he and his team have made in their investigation. I will not give my opinion on this matter, for reasons that should be obvious, so I say we call an old-fashioned vote. We know what Generals Widdon and Combes want so the question now is what do you all believe? Should I rescind my promise to Lieutenant-Colonel Elric and his team, as well as the defense and their consultants, for the reason Generals Combes and Widdon gave us at the start of this meeting or do you believe that the two teams in question should be allowed the three remaining days in their deadline?" Grumman asked, making eye contact with every person in the room.

"General Combes and I wish for this farce to be brought to an end and for the trial against former Brigadier-General Mustang to begin so a dangerous criminal can be permanently removed from the streets," Widdon said, Combes nodding very enthusiastically next to him.

"I think Combes and Widdon are dicks and we should be allowed the time we were promised," Ed told them straight-faced. Hawkeye brushed his shoulder in warning again.

"I think Generals Widdon and Combes are correct," Smythe said and Ed rolled his eyes. The aforementioned general didn't even look like he knew what to think. Judging from the flat looks Smythe got from a couple of the other generals, Ed wasn't alone in his assumption.

"I think," Jones said, pausing to contemplate for a moment, "the same thing I thought when Generals Widdon and Combes told us the reason they requested this meeting. Fuhrer Grumman should not push this trial forward," Jones said, nodding once.

"Big surprise," Combes muttered where he sat slouched in his chair. Ed made sure he saw his eye-roll.

"Given that the main reason for Generals Widdon and Combes' argument is that there have been no leads garnered from this separate investigation and what Mr. Hotchner has told us has proven them wrong, I believe Fuhrer Grumman's deadline should be left. They should get the week they were promised," Brathwaite said. The last vote now came down to whatever General Sayer said and Ed was in an uncomfortable position of where he literally didn't know what her decision would be.

"I believe that if word got out to the public that Fuhrer Grumman went back a promise he'd made because two generals decided the separate investigation would yield no results, we would have a massive protest on our hands. Despite whether the public believes former Brigadier-General Mustang to be guilty or not is beside the point. Part of Fuhrer Grumman's promise to the public was complete transparency and honesty. If they find out he didn't keep his word on something as simple as this, all trust in the military gained by the public would be lost immediately," Sayer told them, face as impassive as Hawkeye's. "I don't think it's worth losing the public's trust in us just because the two of you," a slight reprimanding glare at Widdon and Combes, "can't wait three days for the original deadline to pass. My vote is for Fuhrer Grumman's original ruling to stand," Sayer told them and Ed let out the breath he'd been holding.

"With four votes against the proposal and three for it, Lieutenant-Colonel Elric, his team and the defense will be allowed the three days remaining in the promised deadline," Grumman told them and Ed had to duck his head to stop his smirk being immediately visible. "Unless there is anything else to be discussed, this meeting will be concluded," Grumman said, looking around at everyone.

Brathwaite, Sayer and Jones simply shook their heads. Combes and Widdon were nearly vibrating in their chairs with anger and humiliation and Combes looked like he was actually trying to chew his tongue off so that he wouldn't lash out at the rest of them. The fact that Widdon had a hand wrapped around Combes' forearm in a restraining manner probably helped the mustached man manage his anger. Smythe gave Grumman a small shake of his head when the Fuhrer's eyes found his. Finally, Grumman's gaze landed on Ed and the blonde grinned at him.

"Nope, I'm good. Can we go?" Ed asked, taking no small pleasure in the glares he garnered from Widdon and Combes. Grumman gave him a shadow of a wink before nodding.

"Yes, I believe we're done here. Thank you very much, generals, for taking the time out of your busy days. You're dismissed," Grumman said, standing and buttoning his jacket as he did so. The rest of the generals stood up – Combes being dragged up by Widdon – and they each saluted Grumman before nodding to each other, Ed and Hawkeye.

Ed did the proper military thing and saluted the generals back, with the obvious exception of Combes and Widdon. He ignored both of them and was very bemused that Smythe didn't so much as look at him as he scurried out of the room. Widdon and Combes refused to look at him as they stormed out of the room. Sayer, Brathwaite and Jones left after those two in a much more civilized manner which left Grumman, Hawkeye and Ed in the room by themselves.

"Good luck with the rest of your investigation, Lieutenant-Colonel Elric. Make the most of those three days," Grumman said as he joined the two of them near the door.

"Yes, Sir," Ed said. "Thank you," he added because he has manners, thank you very much.

"I didn't do much so I think your thanks should be given to the generals who lent you their support," Grumman told him and Ed nodded. He probably would've thanked Sayer, Jones and Brathwaite if he saw them in the near future anyway so it wasn't really a hardship to agree. Grumman turned to his granddaughter. "Where did you stay last night? I've heard about your orders to go nowhere without at least one other trusted person. I had meant to extend my invitation for you to stay with myself and your grandmother but it unfortunately slipped my mind after our dinner." Grumman looked very apologetic about that but Hawkeye gave him a bright smile.

"It's okay, Grandfather. Rebecca offered me her spare room when we ran into each other the day after I joined you and Grandmother for dinner. Unfortunately, I can't keep Black Hayate at her apartment as it's a no-pets allowed building but I've been able to find someone willing to accompany me home and join me on his afternoon walks. I believe Alphonse has agreed to join me for this afternoon's walk, as long as he is back from his interview in time," Hawkeye assured him with a pleasant smile. Grumman looked far more relaxed with the information.

"Excellent. As long as you stay safe." Grumman squeezed her upper arm affectionately, allowing the small moment before they resumed their professional fronts. "Have a good day, Captain Hawkeye, Lieutenant-Colonel Elric," Grumman said as the two of them saluted him, though Ed's wasn't as quick or sharp as Hawkeye's.

"You too, Fuhrer Grumman," Hawkeye said when Grumman nodded their salutes away. The Fuhrer left the room first, leaving Ed and Hawkeye to follow him out and close the door. Grumman nodded to Hotch as he walked past the BAU team leader before he entered his office, leaving Ed, Hawkeye and Hotch in the waiting area with Samantha, though the Fuhrer's secretary was quick to follow her boss into his office, no doubt with messages that had accumulated in the couple of hours the Fuhrer had spent with them.

"Let's head back to the office before some dickhead general decides to call another dumbass meeting," Ed said, hurrying for the doors. Neither made a noise but he could feel Hawkeye and Hotch's amusement as his haste but he elected to ignore it.

"What happened after I left? I assume we still have the remaining days promised us?" Hotch asked once they were in the corridor leading away from the Fuhrer's office.

"Yes. Major-General Sayer made a very compelling argument to justify allowing us the three remaining days of investigation," Hawkeye told him. "She pointed out that the public would not be very pleased to hear that several members of the higher-ranked officers twisted the Fuhrer's arm – so to speak – into breaking his word. That was one of his promises when he accepted the title of Fuhrer; the public would be made aware of absolutely everything the military did and there would be no more tolerance for soldiers using their ranks to bend the law," Hawkeye told him and Hotch had to admit he was impressed.

"That was a wise course of action," Hotch said. "It seems that there are at least three members of that council who aren't on the same level as Generals Widdon and Combes," Hotch said, rather carefully, fully aware the generals may not be as out of earshot as they assumed.

"Yeah, I was surprised they weren't all like Widdon and Combes, you know?" Ed said as he led them through the base.

"You mean, rude and arrogant?" Hotch asked and Ed shrugged a shoulder.

"I was gonna say 'gives you the nearly irresistible urge to punch them in the face' but, sure; rude and arrogant works just as well," Ed told him and Hotch knew better than to ask if the blonde alchemist was serious. Hawkeye didn't reprimand him so Hotch decided he'd leave it alone as well. "What time is it, anyway?" Ed asked suddenly.

"It's lunch-time, Sir," Hawkeye told him. Ed made a displeased grimace at the formal address but Hawkeye never called him 'Ed' or 'Edward' unless they were in Mustang's office or off-duty. He'd given up years ago trying to get her to stop.

"Might as well grab food for everyone still in the office while we're near the mess," Ed decided, turning abruptly to head for the mess hall. Hotch and Hawkeye didn't bother to argue. Both knew, after all, what their chances of survival were if they tried to get in between a hungry Edward and food.

A/N - Here's chapter 15 for you all! Many thanks to PhoenixQueen for her amazing work on this chapter and many thanks to those few of you who are leaving reviews on this story with each chapter I post. I really do love reading reviews left on my stories. They make my day so much better and make me feel as though this story is being enjoyed so pretty please leave a review letting me know what you all think to the story so far! See you next week!


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen:**

Al was admittedly – and rightfully, considering Ed's history – worried about his brother attending the generals' meeting this morning, even though Hawkeye had promised to keep Ed in line. Part of him knew that Edward's genius didn't only extend to alchemy, science, and fighting, which meant that the teen knew how much was too much. However, Al had plenty of first-hand examples of when Ed's genius had failed him in diplomatic situations like this.

Their morning had started pleasantly enough, which meant that Edward was in a relatively good mood. This gave Al hope that his brother's temper wouldn't be as quick to flare as it used to prior to the Promised Day. As the morning progressed, Ed grew more agitated about the upcoming meeting, until Agent Hotchner reminded him that the meeting was a good thing – it would give them a chance to prove to the Führer as well as the rest of the High Command that they _were_ making progress towards proving Mustang's innocence. That reminder cheered Edward up again, but Al couldn't help but be concerned at the devious look in his brother's golden eyes.

JJ, Prentiss, Falman, and Fuery had been the first ones to leave that morning, just after eight a.m. He'd been a little surprised they waited so long to leave, until he realised that by then the first of the morning broadcasts would be over, and all of the journalists and radio hosts were likely to be in their offices by the time they arrived at the newspapers or stations. He hoped that their team was having some degree of success with the leads that JJ had singled out the day before after perusing all of the available papers since the murders had become public knowledge.

Hawkeye had been kind enough to call the morgue for Alphonse's team and request meetings with Doctor Cole and Doctor Knox. Doctor Cole had agreed to a meeting during his lunch break, between eleven-thirty and noon, while Knox had grudgingly agreed to an interview at one p.m. Since the morgue was on the outskirts of town, almost an hour's walk away, Hawkeye had also requisitioned them a car. While Hawkeye was busy arranging the interviews with the coroners, Edward had been diligently working on his allotted paperwork. Al had admitted to being impressed with how committed Ed was to completing the paperwork every morning the previous night when they'd returned to Gracia's apartment to sleep in their own beds for the first time since the night they were told Mustang had been arrested.

He was decidedly _less_ impressed when his older brother had informed him that he was getting all of the paperwork done so that he could show Mustang up and prove that the Brigadier General was just lazy.

"Mr. Elric?" Alphonse jumped slightly, drawn out of his thoughts when a slightly nervous, but familiar-looking soldier called his name. Al blinked for a moment and realised that he'd managed to not only walk to the military car park but also successfully lead everyone else there; and he'd done it all while being lost in his thoughts.

"Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts for a moment. Please call me Alphonse or Al. How are you today, Sergeant Browning?" Al asked once he managed to place a name to the soldier's face. Browning looked a little surprised that Al had recognised him, considering they'd only met once before.

"I'm well, Alphonse. I hope you're doing the same?" Browning looked a little uncomfortable with the informality, but Al didn't say anything about it.

"As well as can be expected right now, considering everything that's going on. Thank you for asking, though," Al smiled before remembering that there were other people with him. "Oh, Sergeant Browning, please allow me to introduce David Rossi, Derek Morgan, Doctor Spencer Reid, First Lieutenant Jean Havoc, and First Lieutenant Maria Ross." Al indicated each of his companions as he introduced them.

"It's good to see you again, Lieutenant Ross, Mr. Rossi, and it's a great pleasure to meet the rest of you," Browning said, saluting the two Lieutenants. Both of them were quick to wave him out of the salute.

"It's nice to meet you as well, Sergeant Browning. I assume you're our driver today?" Reid asked pleasantly and Browning nodded.

"Yes, sir. From what I was told, you're all heading out to the morgue, yes?" Al nodded. "All right. I'm ready to leave whenever you are," Browning added, gesturing towards the waiting car.

Al was the first to move to the car, which seemed to be the signal to get everyone moving. Soon enough, they were all crammed into the car and the Sergeant was pulling out of the parking lot. Lieutenant Ross was given the front seat next to Browning, which gave everyone else a bit of extra room in the back. There wasn't much chatter as Browning maneuvered through the mid-day traffic expertly.

* * *

Within fifteen minutes, they'd reached the morgue. They piled out of the car and Al had asked Browning if he would be all right waiting for them for a couple of hours. The sergeant assured them that it wasn't a hassle until Al believed him, at which point they thanked him and headed into the building.

"Good afternoon. How may I assist you?" They were greeted by an older, petite woman who had a short, severe haircut and matching attitude. Alphonse was suddenly glad Ed _wasn't_ there with them, because he didn't think this woman would appreciate any of Ed's attitude. She rather reminded Al of a combination of Granny Pinako and Captain Hawkeye, actually.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," Ross replied. "We have appointments to see Doctor Johnathon Cole and Doctor Robert Knox." The secretary checked her appointment book before nodding.

"Doctor Cole is in an autopsy and is running a little behind schedule, but he has promised to call me once he's finished. Doctor Knox is on time but has asked me to remind you that your meeting with him is at one p.m. and not a moment sooner," she told them primly.

Ross nodded. "Thank you very much, ma'am. Would it be all right for us to wait here until Doctor Cole is available, or until our meeting with Doctor Knox?" The woman nodded, though Al thought he saw an approving look directed at Ross for asking permission rather than assuming, and the six of them sat down in the chairs that made up the tiny waiting area.

* * *

The ringing of a phone nearly forty-five minutes later startled all of them. They'd engaged in some light small talk at first, but there hadn't been much noise in the waiting area, since none of them wanted to actually discuss the case with anyone outside the team or the people they were interviewing. The secretary's pen scribbling on paper had eventually become background noise, just as the traffic outside had. They couldn't really talk about much, since talking about the agents' homes, childhoods, or work could be overheard and raise some questions. Alphonse, with some prodding from Morgan and Rossi, shared a few stories about some of the missions he and Edward had been on (carefully edited to not reveal anything about Al having been a soul bonded to armour), as well as a few stories about what it was like growing up in Resembool, before their mother passed away. Ross also regaled them with the more interesting moments of the time when she and Brosh had been on guard duty for the two Elrics.

"I'll escort them up now, Doctor Cole. Thank you for calling." The woman behind the desk ended the call and the six of them immediately stood as she came out from behind her desk and beckoned them to follow her. Al was surprised that the woman was quite a bit taller than Pinako, as he had somehow managed to convince himself that they would be as alike in height as they were in demeanor. "Please follow me," she added unnecessarily, but they did so without comment.

She led them past several doors before coming to a stop in front of one that was clearly labeled '_Doctor Johnathon Cole_'. She knocked and almost immediately, a voice from inside called for them to enter. She opened the door and allowed them entrance, slipping inside with them. Al took the opportunity to look around and was surprised at how clean and empty the room was. There was only a landscape painting on the wall, the doctor's desk and office chair, two extra chairs in front of the desk, a filing cabinet, and three tall bookshelves filled with medical texts, tools, and models. A few personal items – photographs and small trinkets –were arranged on top of the bookcases.

"Thank you, Jane." The man behind the desk said with a pleasant smile. Doctor Cole was just slightly taller than the average male and looked to be in his mid-to-late 30's. He had lightly tanned skin, black hair cut short like Al's, and black-rimmed glasses. He stood up to greet his guests. "I apologise for my tardiness, but we had some problems transporting a body this morning, which led to my autopsy running over the estimated time." He rounded the desk to shake their hands as they quickly introduced themselves. "I wasn't expecting quite so many people for this interview, however."

"Alphonse, Doctor Reid, and Lieutenant Ross won't be staying for our interview," Rossi explained. "They have an appointment with Doctor Knox in about fifteen minutes." Cole looked surprised but nodded cheerfully enough.

"I see. Jane, why don't you show them to Doctor Knox's office now, and we can get this interview underway?" he suggested, and Jane nodded.

"Of course, Doctor Cole. If you'll follow me?" Jane said blandly to Alphonse, Reid, and Ross, holding the door for them to walk through.

The three of them followed Jane obediently through the hallways before she turned a corner and came to a halt. Before any of the trio could say anything, Jane spun briskly to face them. "Now, there is still ten minutes until your appointment with Doctor Knox. I'm sure you already know that he is not a man you want to irritate by being early or late, therefore, I suggest you sit here until your appointment time," Jane told them and Al nodded immediately in agreement.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you for escorting us," Al said with a respectful half-bow.

Jane nodded approvingly. "You're welcome, young man," she replied, not unkindly, before leaving them to wait in silence until they could knock on Knox's door without getting grouched at – well, any more than Doctor Knox usually grouched at people, that was.

* * *

Doctor Cole moved to sit behind his desk again, waving a hand for them to make use of the chairs in front of the desk. There was a brief moment where all three hesitated before Havoc told them that he'd prefer to stand, solving the problem of who would be sitting. Morgan and Rossi sat and pulled out their notepads before looking up at the doctor, ready to ask their questions. The two agents exchanged a glance before refocusing their attention on Cole.

"Thank you for agreeing to take the time to speak to us, Doctor Cole," Rossi began. "We just have some questions regarding the autopsies you performed on the five victims of the recent serial killer."

Cole nodded. "Of course, Jane was informed of the reason for your request to meet with me by the woman who called to set up this meeting and she passed the message on to me. I pulled my copies of the files, including the notes I made for my reports. How can I help?" Cole laced his fingers together and sat up a little straighter, indicating to a stack of files at his left elbow.

"First of all, I'd like to know whether or not you had met Brigadier General Mustang prior to this case?" Morgan asked, stealing the question before Rossi could ask it.

"Yes. I met him once or twice before his arrest," Cole told them.

"What was your opinion of him as a person or an officer?" Rossi asked.

Cole considered the question for a moment before answering. "To be honest, I didn't form much of an opinion about him. I think I've spent a total of half an hour in his presence and both times were simply to pass along the results of an autopsy. I wouldn't have pegged him as the sort of person who killed someone for a reason as insignificant as not liking him, but how well can you really know someone you've spent less than an hour with?" He spread his hands in a 'what can I say' gesture.

"All right," Rossi said as both he and Morgan made a note of the answer. They both knew they'd likely interpret the doctor's answers differently, hence the necessity of both of them taking their own notes. "When you saw the first victim, before you'd performed any tests, what were your thoughts on the cause of death?" Rossi asked next.

"Well, the running theory on Captain Bryce's death was that he'd knocked himself out while in the alley to light a cigarette. His blood tests revealed a high alcohol content, so it was believed that his cigarette or a match had ignited alcohol that he'd spilt on himself at some point during the night, and he wasn't able to call for help or put out the fire himself because he was unconscious. It was believed to simply be an unfortunate accident, and we never connected his death to Major Pardi or Colonel Summers until Lieutenant Colonel Brookes asked me to review my findings after the Colonel was found." Neither agent was surprised by that information, since Brookes' report had indicated that the deaths hadn't been connected right away.

"Did anything in your report on Bryce change when you realised the deaths were connected?" Morgan asked, and Cole nodded.

"I had noted that the head wound was likely made by the metal railing attached to the set of steps Bryce was discovered near. When I looked closer at his skull injury after the connection was made, I discovered it was identical to the ones on Pardi's and Summers' skulls. When the bar was found where Lieutenant-General Armstrong had been attacked, I borrowed it from the crime lab to test it and see if the wound it created on a fake skull would match the wounds left on the five victims and discovered it did," Cole explained. "I also noted that the fake skull's wound was more devastating than the wound on any victim. Their head injuries would've rendered them unconscious, not killed them outright but the injury I made to the fake skull would've likely killed the person," Cole told them and Rossi frowned. He hadn't read that anywhere.

"I'm sorry but I'm not sure I understand the significance of that?" Havoc interrupted, sounding apologetic but morbidly curious.

"Oh, I believe it to mean that the person who inflicted the head wounds on the victims wasn't as physically strong as I am," Cole told him with a shrug. "This test only happened yesterday so the crime lab techs likely haven't been able to run the sorts of tests that confirm that though." Rossi's furrowed brow smoothed out as he realised that was why he hadn't read anything about this test. He had to admit, he hadn't expected Amestris to be advanced enough to be doing these sorts of tests. He wondered if Ed had had anything to do with it.

"What was your first thought when you heard that former Brigadier-General Mustang was suspected of killing the victims with fire alchemy?" Morgan asked, bringing them back to the interview.

"To be honest, I didn't think there was any truth to it," Cole admitted. "I mean, I've never dealt with the remains of a fire alchemy victim but I've heard the rumours of what people look like when they fall victim to it. After what happened in Ishval, I don't think there's any village left in Amestris where people haven't heard about the Flame Alchemist's immense power. So, when I heard he was suspected, I didn't think it was him because I had thought that if they truly were his victims, there'd be no need for a coroner."

"Do you believe he's guilty?" Morgan couldn't help but ask. Cole pursed his lips in thought.

"I don't know. I can only hope that the investigators have managed to find evidence at the scenes that suggest he is because I know there wasn't anything on the bodies that would help. Though, having said that, I also know the crime lab hasn't finished all of its tests so maybe there is something found at the scenes that will lead back to the killer's identity." Cole shrugged.

"How often do you perform an autopsy on a burn victim?" Rossi asked and Cole sighed.

"Honestly? Before these five, I think I've maybe dealt with a dozen or so bodies that have been burnt during the entirety of my career. I wasn't one of the doctors who went to the front lines of Ishval during the Civil War to treat victims so I never saw any of Mustang's work there. When someone is killed by fire in Amestris, it's normally accidental. A candle sets a curtain on fire, resulting in a house burning to the ground with the occupants inside. Someone travelling too fast in their car hits a tree and the fuel ignites before they can get out. That sort of thing. Those were the kind of circumstances that led to me performing autopsies on burned bodies," Cole told them and the men nodded. They hadn't expected setting people on fire would be a common occurrence for Amestris.

"Is there anything about these bodies that gave you an inclination of how they were set alight?" Rossi asked.

"Well, it's my belief that some sort of accelerant was used. Since they weren't inside a wooden building, the only fuel the fire had was oxygen and the body itself. Humans really aren't that flammable since we're composed mainly of water so there would've had to have been an extra fuel source to feed the flames. Like I said before, I would've thought the use of flame alchemy would've resulted in the bodies being burned to ash to prevent identification and the like but I can't be positive until the results from the tests come back from the crime lab. If I'm right, then I would say that the victims were knocked unconscious, had the accelerant poured over them and a lighter or match was used to light the accelerant," Cole told them, his face pinching like he'd had a weird thought before smoothing out once more.

"What just occurred to you?" Morgan asked, latching on to that reaction. Cole seemed surprised they'd noticed but he answered.

"Well, I'm no investigator but it's strange – to me at least – that Mustang would use an accelerant in the first place. He is the Flame Alchemist and I'm sure most of the rumours about how powerful he is aren't wrong," Cole told them.

"He could have used the accelerant to throw suspicion off himself," Rossi pointed out, playing devil's advocate for the moment.

"That's true but," Cole hesitated for a moment but Rossi encouraged him to continue, "why would he? If I were him, I would've used a more conventional means as a murder weapon. A gun or knife that was untraceable or something. Most people – when they kill someone and set them alight – do so to cover their tracks and rid the body of evidence. If he was trying to throw suspicion off himself and create a red herring for the investigators by setting the bodies alight, it failed spectacularly on him," Cole mused out loud before blinking and sitting up a little straighter. "I apologise. I'm not an investigator so please excuse my rambling."

"It's alright. It's nice to hear theories from people who aren't the investigating officer. Sometimes, they can be more helpful than you realise," Morgan told him, giving the doctor a smile that he returned. "Is there anything else you didn't include in your report that you can tell us? Any thoughts or gut feelings you had when you were performing the autopsy?" Morgan asked. Cole looked mildly surprised at the question and Morgan figured it was likely because it wasn't a commonly asked question during an investigation.

"No, I don't think so. All the autopsies were normal, as far as those kinds of autopsies go. Aside from the defensive wounds to Generals Henley and Andrews, all of the autopsies were nearly identical to each other. Each victim, without exception, had high levels of carbon monoxide in their blood, thus my ruling that they were alive when they were burned. I don't think there's much else to tell you about them. They were standard autopsies for victims of fire," Cole told them. Rossi and Morgan exchanged glances, each silently asking the other if they had any more questions but neither did so they stood.

"Thank you very much for your time, Doctor Cole. I believe we have asked everything we needed to for now," Rossi said, extending his hand to the doctor who had just stood.

"It was no problem. Please, let me know if you wish to speak to me in the future. I'll make myself available again, if needed," Cole told them, shaking Morgan's hand now.

"Thank you. We'll be sure to do so," Rossi said as Havoc joined them so he could shake the doctor's hand as well.

"Will you be alright finding your way back to the waiting area or would you like me to call Jane?" Cole asked, hand hovering over his desk phone but Morgan shook his head.

"Thank you but there's no need. I remember the way," he assured Cole, who merely nodded.

"Very well. Have a good day, gentlemen," Cole said as he sat back down.

"You as well, Doctor," Rossi said as Havoc opened the door, closing it when the three of them were over the threshold. They walked a few feet away from the door, Rossi and Havoc content to let Morgan lead the way, before any of them spoke.

"Well, that went a lot better than I thought. It's nice to meet someone during this case that isn't letting the newspapers or their personal feelings rule their thoughts on it," Morgan said, causing Havoc to snort in agreement.

"Agreed. I can only hope that Al's interview is going as well as an interview with Knox could ever go," Havoc said, looking behind him as if he could see the missing half of their group through the walls.

"Is Knox really that bad?" Rossi asked as they kept walking.

"Knox is brash, abrasive, barely civil to those he actually likes and borderline – if not outright – rude to those he doesn't like. He's not someone who tolerates fools easily. I've never had the pleasure of interacting with him one on one but I've been with the General or Chief when they've spoken with him and you would honestly believe that Knox didn't like them but was being civil because of who they were. Though Al was right yesterday. Knox seems a little less brusque with Ed for some reason," Havoc told them. "I'm sure Al will be fine with him, though. Not many people are able to resist that kid's pleading and he knows it." Havoc grinned when Morgan and Rossi chuckled.

"We noticed. I think it's an Elric trait," Morgan said, thinking of how easily the kid was able to win over people he'd only just met, so long as those people hadn't been rude to start with.

"You're probably right," Havoc told him as Morgan opened the door to the waiting area. Jane simply gave them a look before turning back to her work.

"Your colleagues aren't back yet. You're welcome to wait here for them," she told them and Morgan thanked her as the three of them settled in the chairs. Now all they had to do was wait for the other three.

* * *

Al had to admit that he was a little nervous as he sat outside Knox's office with Reid and Ross. They still had a couple of minutes until it was time to knock on the door, but no one was brave enough to see if being early would irritate the older man. Al hadn't even noticed that he was bouncing his leg as a way to work off his nervous energy until Ross placed her hand on his knee to still the anxious movement.

"Is he really that scary?" Reid asked from the other side of Al. Al snorted and shook his head.

"He's not scary in the way that you're probably thinking. It's just that if you somehow manage to annoy or offend him, you'll never get answers from him. I almost never have to speak to him without Brigadier General Mustang or Brother being with me, so I don't really know what to expect from him. The last time I was alone with him, I managed to irritate him by bringing Mei to his house for medical treatment, and he wasn't happy about that."

"Mei?" Reid asked.

"Mei Chang. She's the seventeenth daughter of the previous Emperor of Xing, and a powerful alkahestrist. Her half-brother Ling Yao is the current Emperor. We met her in the late autumn before the Promised Day. She fought alongside us on the Promised Day, and she helped me save Ed's life when Father was about to kill him. After the Promised Day was over, she and Ling went back to Xing. About six months ago, we got word that their father had died and Ling had been named the new Emperor."

Reid frowned in thought for a moment before his expression cleared with realisation. "She helped you sacrifice yourself, didn't she? Using her alkahestry?"

Al winced, but nodded. "Yeah. She was the only one who could have done it, and she really didn't want to. We'd become really good friends in the months before the Promised Day, and I could tell that asking her to help me hurt her a lot, but she did it because she realised that she was the only one who could make it work." He could see that Reid was about to say something more, and quickly shook his head. "I'd prefer not to talk about it right now, Doctor Reid. Not here." Reid closed his mouth and nodded in understanding.

"What's alkahestry?" he asked instead, trying to focus on the unknown until he could question Al at more length about the sacrifice.

"It's similar to alchemy but has some key differences. The way Mei tried to explain it to me is that it uses something called the Dragon's Pulse – or chi – that flows between all living things, whereas alchemy is believed to draw power from the energy produced by the movement of the tectonic plates. Alchemy is superior to alkahestry in its scientific manipulation of matter for practical uses, but alkahestry is far more specialised and superior when it comes to healing. Since chi flows through everything, including humans, alkahestrists like Mei can use it to heal people. She was able to heal Captain Hawkeye's injuries on the Promised Day, and she was a big help in making sure that I stayed alive long enough to reach the hospital after Brother made his deal with Truth. She even stayed in Central until I woke up from the coma I was in and offered to speed up my healing with daily alkahestry use, but I really just had to recover on my own, with rest, healthy food, and therapy," Al explained, a faint pink flush on his cheeks. "She offered to teach me to use alkahestry if I ever came out to visit her in Xing. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, but with all of Brother's…trips…it hasn't been a good time."

Ross decided to redirect the conversation when she noticed Al's pink cheeks. "You said that Doctor Knox gets along a little better with Edward than he does with Mustang, right?" Al nodded. "Do you know why?"

Al shrugged. "I'm not really sure, since I don't know the whole history. I know General Mustang met Doctor Knox during the Civil War, and they've maintained regular contact since then, but I'm not sure if that's because their careers kept them interacting with each other, or if it's because they're friends. Doctor Knox always acts like it's a hardship to help General Mustang, but so does my brother," he added as a joke, causing Ross and Reid to chuckle. "But I've heard stories about times when General Mustang said or did something that caused Doctor Knox to be even more uncivil than he normally is towards him."

"What about Edward?" Reid asked and Al gave him a questioning look. "Why do you think he likes Ed a little more than most people?"

Al shrugged again. "I'm not sure, to be honest. It could be because of who Brother is, or maybe his age, but I personally think it's because the first time Doctor Knox met properly, Brother was back-talking General Mustang which devolved into their usual bantering before either of them noticed that he was there," Al said, laughing at the memory of Mustang's embarrassed face when Ed retold that story later. "I think it also helps that Brother has the habit of speaking his mind, whether he really should or not. Thankfully for him, most people seem to appreciate his bluntness." Al took a deep breath before standing. Reid and Ross stood with him and, at his nod, Ross knocked on Doctor Knox's door at exactly noon.

"Yes, come in," a gruff, annoyed voice called and Ross opened the door quickly so as to not keep the office's occupant waiting.

Al's first look around the office showed that it was even more sparsely furnished and decorated than Doctor Cole's office. Al could only see a couple of photo frames on the corner of the desk, and there weren't any other personal touches scattered on other shelves or flat surfaces in the room. Remembering how Doctor Knox had tried to throw away the photo of his family that Al had found on his kitchen floor, he couldn't help but wonder if it was because Knox wasn't a sentimental man, or if he just didn't have any items of sentimental value. The latter option made Al feel a little sad and he hoped that it wasn't the case.

"Doctor Knox, I'm not sure if you remember me, but I'm First Lieutenant Maria Ross, and these are Alphonse Elric and Doctor Spencer Reid," Ross introduced herself and the others with minimal fuss.

"Ah yes. You're the young lieutenant who was accused of murdering Brigadier General Hughes. I'm surprised that foolish plan of Mustang's worked." Knox scoffed. "Honestly, burning a human-shaped pile of pork and relying on me to lie for him…" He looked more closely at Ross. "I'm glad to see that you're still alive though. Would've been a shame to go through all of that only to have you wind up on my table in the end." Ross looked a little startled at his admission.

Knox didn't seem to notice, his eyes sliding over to where Reid and Al stood next to the lieutenant. "I'm surprised your brother isn't here with you, Alphonse. Normally you two are joined at the hip. Don't tell me he's ended up in the hospital again?"

Al shook his head. "No, Doctor Knox. Brother is attending a meeting called by the generals and the Führer. Since he's temporarily taken over General Mustang's duties, he was needed there." Knox seemed satisfied. Or maybe he was just annoyed. Al wasn't actually sure, since Knox's perpetual scowl was still in place.

"And I take it you're one of those consultants the defense hired to try to get Mustang out of this mess, if the rumours I've heard can be believed?" Knox asked Reid.

"My team and I have been asked to investigate this case and find the real culprit behind the crimes, no matter who it ends up being," Reid corrected him, and Al thought he saw a spark of approval at the answer. After all, it did show that the BAU team was here to see justice served, not to get Mustang out of prison.

"That's enough with the pleasantries. I'm busy and I have better things to do with my time than sit here and engage in small talk all day. What do you want from me?" Knox asked brusquely, and Al answered immediately.

"When General Mustang was arrested for these murders, one of the first things I did was go through older case files where he was forced to use flame alchemy on a suspect in a fatal way," he explained. "I wanted to see if there were any differences between their remains and the remains of the five victims in his case. I realised that you were the coroner who performed the autopsies on most of the older victims. I – well, we really – were wondering if you happened to read the reports on the autopsies that Doctor Cole wrote up, and we were hoping you could tell us what your opinion was?"

Knox's expression flickered just enough for Al to believe that wasn't the question he had expected to be asked. "I have read the reports. In fact, I read all of the reports and saw the bodies myself when they were on Doctor Cole's table, as he asked me to assist. I haven't exactly made it a secret what I thought when I heard Mustang had been arrested for the deaths and for the attack on General Armstrong." Knox huffed a little. "I _know_ Mustang didn't kill those people. The burns are all wrong for one thing, and there's far too much flesh left for another."

"What do you mean by that?" Reid asked, a little hesitantly.

"What I mean, Doctor Reid, is that when Mustang kills someone with his flame alchemy, there's not much left of them," Knox replied bluntly. "I met Mustang during the Ishvalen Civil War. While I normally don't deal with living patients, I was sent to Ishval to assist with treating our soldiers. I've witnessed first-hand what Mustang's flame alchemy is capable of and trust me when I say it never ends pretty for the person hit with it."

"So if they truly were victims of flame alchemy…?" Reid pressed slightly.

"They would be nothing more than burnt husks," Knox answered. "From what I saw of the bodies, my gut tells me an accelerant was definitely used, but I guess that's for the lab to confirm or deny."

"What do you know about General Mustang's flame alchemy?" Reid asked curiously, and Knox fixed him with an intensely scrutinising look, as if he was searching for an ulterior motive to the question.

"Only what I told you. I'm not an alchemist," Knox grumbled. "If Mustang chooses to turn his flame alchemy on you, you don't stand much of a chance of surviving unless he wants you to," he elaborated after a moment, having deemed Reid genuinely curious. "I know he's got admittedly amazing control over it. He proved that in Ishval as well. I saw him take down an Ishvalen soldier without injuring the two Amestrian officers who had already been injured and who were standing not two feet away from his target. I know he's powerful enough to blow a building to tiny chunks with one snap, and I've heard rumours about what he did to one of the homunculi. But Mustang, for all his faults, is not a cruel person. If you die from his alchemy, he makes it so you don't even know what hits you. If those victims were alive when they were set alight – and I'll remind you that their head wounds only suggested enough force behind the blow to render them unconscious – they would have suffered immensely before succumbing to the shock brought on by their injuries."

"You believe their deaths were the result of shock brought on by trauma?" Reid asked, frowning a little at the conflicting answer. The autopsy reports had listed the cause of death for all the victims as being burned alive.

"No, they likely died from being burned alive. I just hope they went into shock before too long so they didn't suffer as much," Knox said, his face softening a little in sympathy for the victims before his expression hardened again. "Was there anything else?" he snapped, not harshly, but not kindly either.

"Uh, yes," Reid shook off his surprise at the coroner's sudden change of emotion. "Do you think you've interacted enough with General Mustang in recent months to feel comfortable enough to tell me your evaluation on his mental health? Has there been any recent event that you know of that could have caused General Mustang to –" Reid trailed off for a moment to try to think of a tactful word.

"Go off the deep end and murder five people for no good reason?" Knox finished for him, his expression almost daring Reid to argue. Reid didn't. Knox leaned back in his seat as he thought about the question. "No, to the last question at least. Mustang and I may not be bosom buddies, but I would certainly know about anything major happening in his life. All I can think of are the missions he took on with Edward for Führer Grumman, and his promotion to Brigadier General. As for the other question, I believe Mustang to be sound of mind. I'm not a psychologist either, but I know enough to say that he likely has some sort of traumatic stress left over from the Ishvalen Civil War, not to mention what happened when he was forced to perform human transmutation on the Promised Day and ended up losing his vision as a result."

Reid stared at Al in surprise, but Al very pointedly refused to meet the agent's gaze. Knox didn't seem to notice the exchange.

"Having said that," the older man continued, "Mustang has always managed to keep his traumatic stress under control well enough for it to never be a concern. I don't believe that there is any reason for anyone to believe that his mental health has degraded enough for him to have done this. That would be true even if I believed those bodies were killed with his flame alchemy." His pointed tone made sure that they remembered that he didn't believe that flame alchemy was involved in the murders in any way.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Doctor, but did you say that General Mustang went _blind_?" Reid asked, confusion written all over his face. "Was it just temporary, or does Amestris have some sort of treatment for blindness, like you have automail to replace traditional prosthetics?"

Knox looked at Al, who looked very guilty, before he sighed in annoyance; as Ed and Al had neglected to mention the consequences of performing human transmutation, he was now stuck answering Reid's questions.

"Yes. From what I heard from Mustang; his eyesight was the payment that was taken from him for his forced visit through the Gates of Knowledge. They _do_ at least know what those are, right Alphonse?" Knox snapped at the teen, and Al nodded immediately. "At least that's something. I don't know much about why Father needed the sacrifices to have committed human transmutation before they were used. I just know Mustang's payment was his sight. When the Promised Day was over and everyone was recovering in the hospital, I visited him along with a fellow doctor named Marcoh, who was the leading expert on the Philosopher's Stones at the time. Marcoh had a Stone in his possession and offered to heal Mustang to restore his sight. Mustang accepted once Lieutenant Havoc had been healed from his paralysis."

"What was your role, if any, during the Promised Day?" Reid asked and Knox leaned back a little.

"I didn't have any role on the Promised Day itself. My house was turned into a doctor's surgery without my say so during the last few months before the Promised Day though," he grouched, still sore about how many people were brought to his home for him to patch up because they couldn't go to an actual hospital without being arrested or killed. "Any time someone on our side was injured because of their investigation into the corrupt leadership of our military, Mustang pointed them towards me so I could patch them up without the military ever knowing about it. I spent the Promised Day in my home with my ex-wife and son while we waited out the fighting."

"If Mustang's lawyer asked, would you be willing to testify on Mustang's defense as their expert witness?" Reid asked.

Knox sighed again. "I suppose so. It's obvious that Mustang will need all the help he can get if he's going to get out of this one. It's not the first time I've had to pull his fat out of the fire." His tone was grumpy, but Al was certain he could hear an undercurrent of worry there. "Is that all? I have a ninety-six-year-old waiting on my table downstairs."

Reid nodded as he stood. "Yes, Doctor Knox. Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us. We'll let Mr. Lanco know that you're willing to be an expert witness," Reid said, extending his hand automatically to shake Knox's. There was a heartbeat where Knox just looked at his hand, making Reid wonder if he'd managed to offend the man somehow, before Knox accepted the handshake.

"It's fine."

"It was good to see you again, Doctor Knox. Thank you for your help. Have a good day," Alphonse said as he stood up next to Reid.

"I haven't managed to say it before, but it's good to see you out of the hospital, Alphonse. Make sure you and your brother stay out of it," Knox said, leveling a glare at the younger Elric that had Al nodding quickly in agreement. "I imagine that you can find your way back to the front desk?" His tone suggested that the only acceptable answer would be 'yes'."

"Yes, sir. Thank you once again. We'll leave you to your day," Maria said, opening the door once more. The two geniuses were quick to scramble out of the office. Knox nodded to Maria as she closed the door behind her and received a nod back before the door clicked shut.

Al and Reid were already a couple of meters away from the door but Maria was quick to catch up. She watched the two in amusement as they hurried from the room, Al acting like Knox was going to come charging out of his office and start snapping at them for being in the hallway still. Once they were near Cole's office, Al let out a relieved sigh and his shoulders lost some of the tension he'd been carrying.

"That went far better than I expected," he told them, smiling happily before meeting Reid's eyes. "I know you might have some questions about the whole sacrifice thing but please wait until we get back to the office. There are some things Brother and I don't want the public knowing about us," Al requested in a tone that was soft and slightly melancholy.

"Alright, Al. I'm sure the others will want to know about it anyway," Reid told him and Al looked torn between relief that Reid had agreed to wait and reluctant for everyone to know what he and Ed had to say.

It didn't take them long to reach the waiting area. Maria wouldn't have bothered memorising their route at all since between Al and Reid they knew where they were going but her military training to always know where her escape routes were had kicked in as soon as Jane had led them to Cole's office. They weren't surprised to find Morgan, Havoc and Rossi already waiting on the couches off to the side while Jane sat at her desk, eyes flicking up to look at them before going back to her work.

"How'd you guys go with your interview?" Morgan asked, reaching out and ruffling Reid's hair the moment the young genius was within reach, much to said genius' displeasure.

"It was good. Doctor Knox answered all of our questions," Reid told them as he fixed his hair, scowling at the grinning Morgan. "How about you?" He asked.

"Same for us," Rossi told him. "Let's head back to the office and we can tell everyone anything we've learned there so we don't have to repeat ourselves constantly," Rossi suggested.

"Yes, hopefully Brother is finished with his meeting by now," Al said, looking at the time and realising it was nearing one o'clock, meaning Ed might have been with the generals and Fuhrer Grumman for three hours if he hadn't finished.

"Finished for Ed's sake or the generals'?" Morgan asked, smirking slightly as Al laughed.

"Both," he said honestly, causing Morgan, Reid and Havoc to laugh with him and the six of them turned to leave before remembering to say a quick 'thank you' to Jane for escorting them to their interviews. Once done, they left the building to find Sergeant Browning still waiting for them and, in no time, they were heading back to Central Command.

* * *

JJ, Prentiss, Fuery and Falman had planned on visiting four newspaper publishers that had caught JJ's interest for some reason or another and two radio stations that Mustang's team had suggested they visit as they were the two stations that broadcasted the most information about the killings and Mustang. While it didn't sound like a lot to keep them busy for most of the day, JJ was quietly hopeful about these interviews producing more leads for them to follow throughout the day.

The first publishing house they planned on visiting was one of the biggest newspapers, according to Fuery, called The Amestrian Times. There was one journalist whose name was always attached to the articles, Debora Turner, that JJ was particularly interested in talking to as some of her articles were written with the assumption that Mustang was well and truly guilty. The only thing she didn't do was outright say he was.

Falman had grabbed a military car for them since they weren't sure how long they'd be in each place and it was less of a hassle for them to just drive themselves so they didn't have to rely on someone else and they weren't making some poor military officer wait in the car while they interviewed journalists and radio hosts. Once they arrived at the publishing house, they made their way inside and Falman approached the front desk. There were three women sitting at the desk, all of whom were already busy talking to someone, either in person or on the phone, but Falman seemed happy enough to simply wait. Finally, one woman finished her conversation and turned to Falman with a polite smile.

"May I help you?" she asked and Falman stepped forward, the three others stepping forward with him but staying behind him.

"Yes, ma'am. We were hoping to talk with a Debora Turner, if she has a few minutes to spare?" Falman asked politely. The secretary, a 'Susan' according to her name tag, nodded and picked up her phone once more.

"I'll just give her office a call and see if she does. May I ask what this is regarding?" Susan asked, her fingers ready to dial.

"We'd just like to talk with her regarding some of her recent articles," Falman told her. Susan nodded once more and dialed the number.

"Hello Miss Turner, this is Susan from reception. There are four people here who wish to speak with you regarding your recent articles, if you have the time," Susan repeated Falman's request, pausing for a few moments before speaking again. "Very well, Miss Turner. I'll let them know." Susan hung up the phone and turned her attention back the group. "Miss Turner has agreed to see you. She has a twenty-minute window before her first appointment of the day. If you'll follow me, I'll take you up to her office now," Susan said, standing neatly and smoothing down her skirt before walking out from behind her desk.

The four of them were quick to follow her as she walked up a flight of stairs and through an area that reminded JJ and Prentiss of their bullpen back home. There were at least two dozen desks, grouped in fours, with barely enough room between each group of desks for two people to walk past each other comfortably. The entire floor was busy, with people bustling from desk to desk, phones ringing, papers rustling and other various noises. The side of the room opposite the staircase had three offices built into it while the wall adjacent to the staircase had another four. Susan led them through the bullpen and to the office on the left hand-side of the opposite wall.

"Come in," a woman called once Susan knocked on the door. Susan did as she was permitted, opened the door and let the four of them inside the room. She remained standing next to the door.

"Your visitors, Miss Turner," Susan announced and Turner looked up, giving Susan a smile as her eyes looked over her visitors.

"Thank you, Susan," Turner said. Susan nodded and took the hint to leave, closing the door behind her. JJ took the opportunity their short conversation gave her to observe the female journalist.

Turner had her brunette hair pulled up into tight bun that sat on the base of her neck and her black pencil skirt and jacket were pressed and neat. The light blue dress shirt she wore under the jacket complimented her pale skin nicely, bringing out her blue eyes so she looked friendly and approachable. She wore silver jewelry but only a few pieces; her watch, a thin bracelet, a single pair of earrings and dainty chain with a small pendant set with a clear stone. She wore minimal make-up and had a pleasant smile plastered on her face as she reached out a hand towards JJ.

"Debora Turner, but I'm sure you've already guessed that," she said, smile twitching a little wider as JJ grasped her hand.

"Jennifer Jareau. This is Emily Prentiss," JJ gestured to Emily, who shook Turner's hand, "Lieutenant Vato Falman and Warrant Officer Kain Fuery," JJ introduced the two men, as each man took their turn shaking the journalist's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I understand you have questions about some of my articles. I'm assuming the articles in question are the ones regarding the recent killings and the arrest of former Brigadier-General Mustang?" Turner said, waving a hand for them to take a seat in the available chairs as she sat in her own.

JJ and Emily took the offered chairs while the two soldiers took up positions behind them, standing at parade rest. JJ crossed one leg over the other, pulled her notepad filled with her notes gathered from the day before and flipped to a blank page before resting the pad on her knee.

"You would be correct, Miss Turner," JJ said as she looked back up at the journalist and saw an all too familiar gleam in her blue eyes and knew she wouldn't be the only one asking questions here. "My team has been asked to help General Mustang's defense lawyer and have been granted permission by Führer Grumman to conduct our own investigation. My primary role in the team is as a media consultant. I'm sure you can understand what that means but all it boils down to is that I liaise between my team, the media and the local law enforcement we're helping. When we agreed to help General Mustang's lawyer, I was tasked with reading through the articles written about the murders, General Armstrong's attack and General Mustang's arrest and I noted that your articles, particularly the ones written after General Henley's death, focused heavily on the fact that General Mustang had been questioned as the primary suspect. Once General Mustang was arrested, you were the first reporter to announce the news. I'm just curious, Miss Turner, but how did you find out about his arrest?" JJ asked, pen poised and ready to write.

"I have sources in the military, Miss Jareau. They informed me of his arrest shortly after we received word that Lieutenant-General Armstrong was attacked," Turner told them.

"How shortly after?" JJ asked, instinct urging her to.

"I received a call around ten o'clock p.m., maybe a little after, from my source, telling me that Lieutenant-General Armstrong had been attacked and that General Mustang was to be arrested. An hour later, my source called me back to tell me that an arrest warrant had been served and he was in custody," Turner said and JJ noted it.

"Would you be willing to name your source?" JJ asked, not hopeful considering how rare it was to get a journalist back in America to name their source without a warrant or deal to persuade them.

"Miss Jareau, I don't know how it works in your home country but here, our sources expect a certain degree of protection from us if they choose to remain anonymous," Turner told her and JJ had to admit it was one of the nicer ways she'd been told 'no'.

"And your source has asked to remain anonymous?" Prentiss asked, beating JJ to the question.

"As a matter of fact, no. She isn't really my source but she passes along messages from her superior," Turner told them. "I won't tell you who this person is as I have made a promise to not name names however I will tell you that her boss is in the military and that's all I'll say on the matter," Turner said, leaning back slightly in her chair. JJ immediately noted that down to pursue further at a later date.

"Did your source mention to you that the investigation had gathered evidence that proved beyond a reasonable doubt that General Mustang was guilty?" JJ asked and Turner sighed a little before pulling a notepad towards herself and flipping through it.

"My source told me, and I quote, 'that Lieutenant-Colonel Charlie Brookes' team had gathered compelling evidence at previous crime scenes and secured a statement from Lieutenant-General Armstrong after her attack that confirmed that Brigadier-General Mustang was the culprit', end quote," Turner told them, obviously daring them to question her wording of the articles. "I'm aware that General Mustang has not been to trial yet and thus hasn't received a verdict from a jury however my source was very adamant that her boss had this proof," Turner informed them.

"Well, Miss Turner, your source was wrong," JJ told her and Turner froze in surprise.

"How so?" Turner asked once she recovered from her slight shock. She had a pen in her hand now and JJ didn't bother trying to stop her.

"There is no physical evidence tying General Mustang to any crime scene and Lieutenant-General Armstrong was not only _not_ interviewed the night she was attacked, but she did not identify General Mustang as her attacker when she _was_ interviewed. In fact, she never saw her attacker's face and couldn't even give us the gender of the criminal," JJ told her and Turner wrote this information down. "I have to ask but didn't you check this information with other people?" JJ asked a little incredulously.

"My source's information for my previous articles had all checked out to be true and I needed to submit the article to my editor immediately as we were going to print the next day," Turner said defensively. "I didn't accuse General Mustang directly of the crimes," she pointed out but JJ shook her head.

"You didn't, that's true, but you didn't keep your article objective. If I had been reading those articles as someone who wasn't working the case and therefore relied solely on the newspapers for information, I would be led to believe that there was no doubt that General Mustang was guilty. You may not have outright said it but you certainly didn't make sure your article stayed neutral. As a result, public opinion is being swayed against General Mustang, and even if he is found innocent of these charges, it could damage his reputation as well as his career in the future." JJ knew she sounded slightly scolding but couldn't help it. It infuriated her to see journalists blatantly abuse their positions like this.

"My source –" Turner started to say but JJ cut her off pretty quickly.

"You didn't fact-check, Miss Turner. A simple phone call to Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes would've cleared this matter up," JJ told her bluntly. Turner glared at her before visibly calming herself down and plastering on a fake smile.

"Is there anything else I can help you with, Miss Jareau? I am a busy woman and I do have an appointment shortly," Turner told her, keeping her voice forcibly sweet.

"Have you heard any rumours of someone bragging that they managed to frame a general?" JJ asked and Turner shook her head.

"No. I've heard no such rumours nor have any of my co-workers told me about anything of the like," Turner told them. JJ noted that before standing, which prompted Emily to do the same, and reached a hand out for Turner to shake.

"Thank you for your time, Miss Turner. We've asked everything we needed to and won't take up anymore of your valuable time. Have a good day," JJ said as Emily and the two men shook Turner's hand.

"You as well," Turner said as JJ and Emily headed for the door that Fuery was holding open for them, Falman following close behind. None of them looked back when the door shut to see Turner grabbing her phone and dialing a number before waiting furiously for the other person to answer.

The four of them headed down the stairs and past the secretary desk, nodding to Susan when the woman noticed them leaving and didn't say anything until they were back in the vehicle. Prentiss wasn't the only to notice the irritation on JJ's face as they walked out of the building.

"Where to next, Agent Jareau?" Falman asked once they were in the car. His question caused JJ to let out the frustrated breath she'd been holding in.

"The publishing house for Central Weekly, please, Lieutenant Falman," JJ said, giving the man a smile before looking at Prentiss, who was trying to hide an amused smirk at JJ's obvious irritation. JJ glared at her co-worker and friend before smiling a little sheepishly. "I guess it doesn't matter which country you're in, the journalists will always be the same, huh?" JJ said, a little forlornly. Prentiss patted her hand consolingly.

"Maybe the rest will be better," Prentiss said optimistically and JJ smiled gratefully at her as she straightened from her slight slouch. They could only hope so.

* * *

The three other publishing houses had provided no fruitful leads for the team so their next course of action was to talk to the two radio station hosts suggested to JJ by the Amestrian team. Falman informed JJ and Prentiss that the host of 'Central's Morning Report' was a man by the name of Steven Murray and the station that transmitted this program was the same station that Fuery, Breda and Ross had brought the late Fuhrer Bradley's wife to use during Promised Day to reveal that an order had been given to have her and everyone with her except Mustang killed because she was in the way of the military and their plans. The second host, William Levine, belonged to the same station but hosted the evening news program, 'Central's Evening Report'. JJ and Prentiss had rolled their eyes at the originality of the programs' names.

They arrived at the building a little after lunch time with little fanfare. Falman parked the car and they climbed out, stretching a little, feeling the familiar ache of their muscles from sitting all day with minimal movement and being in a car for a while, before heading into the building Falman led them towards.

"Good afternoon. How may I help you?" A woman greeted politely as soon as they walked through the doors. To JJ and Prentiss' surprise, Fuery was the one to approach the desk. Up until now, Falman had been the one to request the interviews.

"Hello. We were hoping to speak with Mr. Murray and Mr. Levine, if neither of them is too busy," Fuery said, giving the woman a shy smile. She returned it and picked up her phone while Fuery turned back to the others to answer JJ and Prentiss' silent question. "When we borrowed the station, I met Steve and Will and became friends with them after a little while," Fuery admitted a little sheepishly.

"Of course, you did," Falman said, gracing the younger man with a rare smile, much to Fuery's delight. The sound of a throat clearing had them focusing on the young woman at the desk.

"Mr. Murray and Mr. Levine would be delighted to see you. I assume you know the way to the staff break room? That's where they're about to have lunch," the woman said, smiling at Fuery when he nodded. "Excellent. You can head there now, if you'd like," she told them.

"Thank you," Fuery said, bowing slightly before he headed for a corridor, looking back to make sure the others were following him.

The walk to the break room didn't take too long and when they arrived, they were the only ones in there. It was barely half a minute later when they heard two sets of footsteps approaching the door. It was the only warning they got before the door opened and two men walked inside, spotted Fuery and called out happy greetings as they approached the bespectacled man. Fuery greeted them just as happily but soon turned their attentions to the three other people in the room.

"Steve, Will, this is Lieutenant Falman, Miss Jennifer Jareau and Miss Emily Prentiss." He gestured to each person. "Guys, these are Steven Murray and William Levine," Fuery introduced the two men, pointing to the man that corresponded with the name. Murray was a gangly, blonde man with a warm, friendly smile and looked to be only a little older than Fuery whereas Levine was of average build and size, with brunette hair and an almost stoic demeanor. While Murray waved at them, Levine merely nodded.

"Why don't we all sit down and you can tell us why you're here, Kain," Murray suggested and Fuery nodded in compliance. Everyone did as the blonde said, with the exception of the two radio hosts who went and grabbed their lunches from the fridge and joined them. "I hope you don't mind if we eat while we talk?" Murray asked but four voices reassured him they were fine with it.

"Miss Jareau and Miss Prentiss would like to ask you guys some questions about your reports on the five recent murders, General Armstrong's attack and Brigadier-General Mustang's arrest, if that's alright with you?" Fuery asked nervously.

"It's fine. What do you guys want to know?" Murray assured Fuery and asked the women. JJ already had her notepad out.

"Firstly, I'd like to know where you received your information for your programs?" JJ asked, pen at the ready.

"From the same places as every other reporter, I suppose," Murray said, glancing at Levine. "We receive reports from the military, gather evidence from sources, and use what the newspapers have printed. We verify everything we're told with as many people as possible before we go on the air," Murray told her.

"We each have an intern who does the groundwork for us," Levine spoke up. "They set up meetings for us with military or other sources, talk with journalists and run interference between us and everyone else. We mainly spend our time before and after our programs verifying everything brought to us and writing the script for the report," he explained and JJ nodded as she wrote.

"Have you received any reports that definitively state that General Mustang is either guilty or innocent? If so, from whom did you receive those reports?" JJ asked next and wasn't surprised when both men shook their heads.

"No, I haven't received anything of the sort," Murray told her and Levine said the same.

"Have you heard any rumours about someone boasting about how they've managed to frame a general or anything of a similar nature?" JJ moved on to her next question but the answers were the same.

"Do you have any reason to believe that Brigadier-General Mustang has been framed? We can add that to the evening report," Murray asked after he and Levine had confirmed they hadn't heard any rumours.

"Unfortunately, no. We have no concrete evidence yet. At the moment, it's merely one of many theories we have at the moment," JJ told him, a little apologetically before moving on. "Has there been any information given to you that you couldn't verify completely or seemed unusual to you?" Levine and Murray frowned in thought.

"I don't think so," Murray eventually said. "I mean, there was that article by Deborah Turner released the day after General Armstrong was attacked and General Mustang was arrested that basically said that Mustang was definitely guilty but, I mean, I only read that article. I haven't received anything weird myself," Murray said.

"I can't say I've been given information I couldn't verify or any information that seemed unusual," Levine told her. JJ didn't look surprised. Instead, she looked at Emily to see if she had any questions but the raven-haired BAU agent shook her head almost imperceptibly.

JJ focused her attention back on the two radio hosts. "Thank you for answering our questions, gentleman. We'll be in touch if we need to ask you anything more but thank you for taking the time today to speak with us," JJ said, holding her hand out for the men to shake. Prentiss followed suit with her own thanks, as did Falman.

"You're welcome," Murray said with a smile before turning to Fuery. "We're going out for drinks on Friday, if you want to join us?" he asked and Fuery looked conflicted for a moment.

"If, by some miracle, we manage to solve this case by then, I'll join you," Fuery promised them. Murray and Levine accepted the compromise.

"Excellent. We hope to see you there," Murray said, clapping Fuery on the shoulder jovially before letting the younger man join up with his three team members.

"Have a good day, guys," Fuery said as he followed JJ, Emily and Falman out of the room and grinned when he heard Murray and Levine's similar goodbyes called out behind him.

They walked past the receptionist, who wished them a good afternoon and they did the same, before they headed back to the parked car. Once Falman had unlocked it, they were quick to climb in and Falman was just as quick in starting the car up and getting them on the fastest route to Central Command.

"Well, I certainly hope the others have had better luck than us," JJ said, a little annoyed at how little their day had yielded. The only thing of import they'd uncovered was that Debora Turner's source worked for a general who was either severely misinformed or blatantly lied to their subordinate and had them lie to the journalist.

"We'll find out shortly," Prentiss told her in a comforting manner. JJ gave her a grateful smile before the blonde turned her attention to the two Amestrian soldiers.

"So, why exactly did you hijack a radio station?" JJ asked, smiling as Fuery turned around a little in his seat to start explaining the events that led up to Mrs. Bradley going on the air.

* * *

By the time Al, Reid, Morgan, Rossi, Havoc, and Lieutenant Ross made it back to the office, everyone else had returned with the exception of Hotch, Ed, and Hawkeye. Al couldn't help but worry about his brother again, and hope that Ed's infamous lack of patience hadn't caused problems during the meeting with the generals.

They all settled back into their seats, and Reid fixed Al with a questioning look. Al sighed, knowing that he needed to explain at least a little bit about what had happened on the Promised Day. He just wasn't sure how much his Brother had already told them, so until he got a chance to ask, he resolved to keep it as simple as he could. No need to go into the fact that they had also performed human transmutation or anything about the years he spent as a soul bonded to armour.

"There are some things that I'm sure Brother and General Mustang haven't told you about the Promised Day," he started carefully, thinking through exactly what he was going to say. "In addition to a nation-wide transmutation circle to provide enough souls to accomplish what Father wanted to do, there were a few other requirements. First, five specific points had to have what they referred to as a 'crest of blood' formed there. The homunculi accomplished that by creating unrest and chaos at those five points, which caused a great deal of bloodshed. Secondly, in order to gain enough power to activate the country-wide circle, Father needed five human sacrifices – five alchemists who had met Truth and seen the Gates of Knowledge. As far as we know, there are only a few ways to meet Truth. Brother and I both met Truth for the first time when I was ten and Brother was eleven. We performed a transmutation that was extremely advanced, and it should have killed both of us, but Truth decided to spare both of us."

"Why would it do that?" Morgan asked, curiously.

Al shrugged. "I don't like to question Truth's motives. It is the equivalent of an alchemic god, I guess, so my philosophy is to not say or do anything that might draw its attention back towards me." He saw the agents nod in agreement. "Anyway, when the Promised Day came, the homunculi had only managed to locate four of the five necessary sacrifices – Brother, me, our Teacher, and our father. Having run out of time, two of the homunculi, Pride and Wrath, captured General Mustang and forced him to perform one of the transmutations that would put the general in front of Truth. The thing is, whenever an alchemist goes before Truth, you usually have to pay a toll for the knowledge he gives you."

"I think Edward mentioned that once. He said he'd been through the Gate multiple times, but the first time it cost him his left leg, and the second time his right arm," Prentiss said, swallowing hard. "But what did it cost you?"

Al hid his reaction to the memory with difficulty. "It would have cost me my life, but Brother gave up his right arm to create an array that saved me and kept me alive for four years."

"And based on what Doctor Knox told us, when the homunculi captured General Mustang, his transmutation cost him his vision?" Reid asked, and Al nodded. "But he wasn't blind when we first met him."

"No, he wasn't. The thing is," Al paused to think about how he wanted to explain everything. "On the Promised Day, there was a point during our battle with Father where we had managed to severely weaken him. He was desperate for more souls to sustain his Philosopher's Stone, and Brother was the first one he spotted. Brother was trapped and couldn't escape – his left arm was impaled on a piece of rebar and concrete, and his automail arm had been destroyed in the fighting. The array that was keeping me alive had also been weakening, since it was never meant to prolong a life as long as it had prolonged mine at that point. I realised that because Brother gave up his arm to create the array in the first place, I could reverse the exchange. If I broke the array, the energy released would return Brother's arm to him and he might have a chance. I was too far away from him to reach him in time though, so I had Mei Chang, the Xingese princess who was one of our allies use her alkahestry to create a channel for the energy to flow through."

"That must have taken a lot of courage," Rossi said quietly, almost in admiration, but Al shook his head.

"Not really. I just knew that I couldn't let Brother die – I couldn't watch it happen when I had a chance to stop it. I didn't even think about what it might do to me. I reversed the array and Mei activated the channel for the energy. Brother got his arm back and was able to defeat Father, but after that, he performed another transmutation to talk to Truth and bargained for my life. Brother was willing to give up his ability to perform alchemy forever if it meant getting me back, but Truth said it would return me in exchange for Brother's arm again, and a favour. The bargain was made and Truth upheld its word, but I guess because of what I offered and the fact that my life had been sustained by an array for so long, it weakened me severely. I lost a lot of weight and body mass, and I was sick for several months after the Promised Day."

"But what about General Mustang?" Reid asked.

"I don't know for sure, and like I said, I don't like to speculate about Truth's motives, but I suspect that Truth went easy on the general because he was forced to perform the transmutation against his will. If he'd performed it of his own free will, I think Truth would have actually physically taken his eyes, the way Truth took Brother's arm and leg," Al admitted. "But after being around us, General Mustang knew the cost of seeing Truth and he refused, so when he was forced through his Gate, Truth simply blinded him rather than physically taking his eyes, and when Marcoh offered to heal the General with a Philosopher's Stone, Truth allowed it since the general already knew the lesson Truth was trying to teach. We never mentioned it before, because it's not something that we like to talk about, and it's not something that we want a lot of people to know about."

"That makes a horrifying kind of sense," JJ started, just as the door opened and Edward, Hawkeye, and Hotch entered the room with bags from the mess hall. Al shot them a quick, pleading glance, and they all nodded subtly, understanding the younger alchemist's request to drop the subject. Edward didn't seem to notice anything, and with the announcement that they still had the remainder of the week to investigate, everyone relaxed and dove into the food Edward had brought with him.

* * *

_Later that afternoon…_

The walk to Hawkeye's apartment was filled with a comfortable silence between Alphonse and Hawkeye. They'd left the office just after dinner and everyone had exchanged news on what they'd uncovered that day. It hadn't taken long for them to figure out who the source was for Debora Turner. With the massive clue about her source working for the military, the knowledge of who would have access to the records of Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' investigation, and a motive to attempt to tarnish Mustang's name and reputation, all they had to do was pull employment records for the generals they suspected, namely Widdon, Combes and Smythe. They quickly found out that Widdon's secretary, Eleanor Turner, was Debora's sister. Hawkeye decided that she would talk to the woman about passing along information about ongoing investigations tomorrow.

"Thank you for accompanying me tonight, Alphonse," Hawkeye said as they approached her building.

"It was no problems, Miss Riza. I'm glad to get the fresh air," Al told her, an honest smile on his face. Hawkeye returned the smile as she let them into the building and led them up to her apartment.

Both Elric brothers had been in her apartment a few times for various reasons but it always seemed like an honour for them to be let in. Hawkeye unlocked her door and let Alphonse inside, closing the door just as Black Hayate came running to greet them excitedly. Hawkeye allowed him to jump on her before moving his attention to Alphonse before ordering him to behave while she went to fetch his leash and change into clothes better suited to walking her dog than her uniform. Black Hayate immediately sat at Al's feet, waiting for his owner with his tongue lolling out of his mouth happily.

The walk itself was fairly uneventful. They walked along Hawkeye's usual route, saying hello to the people Hawkeye always saw at this time, as they made their way to the small park 20 minutes away from Hawkeye's building. When Al asked why she didn't go the one closer, she told him it was because the longer walk was better for Hayate since it was a rare day lately where she got to walk him twice a day. Once at the park, Hayate was let off the leash and took off to explore the area, always making sure he could still see Hawkeye and Al as he walked about.

The two blondes spoke about meaningless things; a mutual, unspoken agreement between the two to not speak about the case. Instead, Al told Hawkeye about everything Elysia had told him the previous night. He had managed to convince Ed that a night sleeping in their own beds rather than the couches in Mustang's office would be good for them and they'd gotten back to Gracia's house early enough to phone Granny Pinako to speak to everyone. Gracia was interested in knowing how the case was going and had been encouraging over the phone, assuring the boys that she had every confidence that they would be able to solve this soon. Elysia had told them all about her adventures with Winry – who had decided to stay in Resembool a couple of days longer than planned – before regaling them with adventures she'd had with Den and her mother. Both Hughes' had expressed their hope they'd be home soon and Hawkeye wasn't blind to the way Al's voice had a hint of guilt to it and knew it meant that undoubtedly both Elrics believed they should have already solved this case by now so the Hughes' could come home.

"We still have the three days remaining where we won't have to worry about a trial. Something will happen and we will get the lead we need. I'll tell your brother what I'm about to tell you but there's nothing you could have done more sooner to find the real criminal. We're all working as hard as we can and, unfortunately, the circumstances just aren't in our favour. We _will_ figure this out but it will take time and Gracia and Elysia know we're doing our best," Hawkeye told him sternly. Al nodded in agreement and Hawkeye was pleased to see some tension leave his body.

"Thank you, Miss Riza. I think I needed to hear that," Al said with a grateful smile on his face. Hawkeye gave him a small smile before whistling for Black Hayate, who immediately raced for them.

"Sometimes you just need to be reminded that you are doing the best you can," Hawkeye told him as she crouched down to clip Hayate's lead back on his collar and straightened once more. "Let's head back to the apartment now. Rebecca will be at the office soon and I'm sure your brother will need you to pull him out of his work shortly," Hawkeye said and Al nodded in agreement.

A half hour later found them on their way back to the office with Black Hayate secured in the apartment, his food and water topped up and Hawkeye back in her uniform. When Al didn't see her walk out of her room with a spare uniform for the next morning, Hawkeye informed him that Rebecca already had a spare uniform of hers at her apartment.

By the time they left the apartment, the sun had completely set and the only light they had was from the streetlights lining the roads. There weren't many people about and Al assumed that was because everyone had arrived home from work and were eating their own dinners. There were a few people in the streets, running last minute errands but for the most part, Al and Hawkeye were on their own.

"Captain Hawkeye?" A soft, nervous voice sounded from the alley-way the two of them just walked past. Both of them spun immediately to face the person the voice belonged to.

Standing in the alley, huddled up to one of the walls, stood a woman, eyes flicking to Al and Hawkeye before flicking to the ground and back again in an anxious way. She was curled in on herself, making her already petite build look even smaller than it was. She had short, brunette hair, so dark it was almost black, that was pinned back to show her scared face. She wore civilian clothing. Al didn't recognise her and a glance at Hawkeye told him she didn't know her either.

"Yes?" Hawkeye said cautiously but soothingly, like she was talking to a scared animal.

"I think I have some information about Brigadier-General Mustang you would be interested in."

A/N - Here's chapter 16 for all of you lovely people! Many thanks to my beta, PhoenixQueen, who - despite such a busy week - managed to get me 16 in time for me to post it today! Also, many thanks to those who have been reviewing the latest chapters, especially Avrek7012 who has always been the first to leave me a review on the latest chapter. Reviews make the author's day so pretty please leave comments on the story with your thoughts to the chapter and story as a whole! See you all next week!


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen:**

"I think I have some information about Brigadier General Mustang that you would be interested in," she told them, although Al wondered if he'd imagined the flicker of hate that shone in the woman's eyes when she said Mustang's name.

"What information?" Hawkeye asked, standing a little straighter, a small tell that this woman had caught her interest.

"Please. I've hidden it in a safe place. I can show you where it is, if you'll follow me?" she told them, gesturing vaguely behind her, into the alley to indicate where her information was hidden. When Hawkeye and Al didn't move any closer to where she stood in the shadows of the alley, she glanced nervously out into the street, looking around for anyone who might be within earshot. "Please. I can't tell you here. Someone might here us and tell –" Her eyes widened as she cut herself off by shaking her head and taking a step back into the shadows. "No, I can't tell you who. He's too powerful. There might be someone spying on me already. Please, you have to follow me," she begged, tears pooling in her brown eyes, but no spilling over just yet.

Al and Hawkeye exchanged a glance. Al could see that Hawkeye believed the woman's claims as much as he did – which was to say not at all. Hawkeye held his gaze for a moment before nodding almost imperceptibly and turning back to the fidgeting woman standing in the mouth of the alley.

"Please show us this information," she requested politely, giving the brunette an encouraging and reassuring smile.

"Come with me," the woman said as she turned on her heel and shuffled into the alleyway quickly. She led them almost two-thirds of the way down before she pointed further up ahead. "It's hidden up there, in an alcove in the wall," she stated, not making any sign that she was going to go and get it from the alcove.

Hawkeye and Al walked past her and started looking for the alcove she had mentioned, but it became obvious within a few seconds that there wasn't one there. The knot in Al's gut grew exponentially and a glance at Hawkeye revealed a look of fear in her normally warm brown eyes. But he could also tell, by the way she glanced back at him, that the fear wasn't for herself, but for him and he couldn't stop the slight warmth he felt at that realisation.

_Click_

The sound of a gun's safety being released had both of them spinning to face the woman, Hawkeye's hand moving towards the gun holstered at her waist. She froze short of drawing her own weapon when she saw the woman aim the gun at Al.

"You would think that two people helping to investigate murders happening in alleyways, two people who were convinced that the killer was still in large at that, would be smart enough to not follow a stranger into one," the brunette sneered at Hawkeye as her hands held the gun pointed steadily at Al's head. "Now, Captain, you're going to remove your gun and you're going to throw it past me. If you give me any reason to believe you're going to try something heroic, I'll pull the trigger." Her finger twitched against the trigger to show that she wasn't kidding. Al couldn't _quite_ contain the slight hitch in his breath at the threat.

He'd had guns pointed at him many times in the past – a hazard of following Ed around on his missions for Mustang – but he'd never really been afraid those times because he'd been bound into the armour and he'd known the bullet wouldn't hurt him in the slightest. More often than not, he'd ended up taking a bullet on purpose in order to protect his brother. The only time he'd been fired at deliberately since the Promised Day was the day that he and Ed had chased Moore into the industrial area of Central, and even then, Moore had missed him on purpose since he'd been trying to lure Ed into his trap.

Hawkeye slowly removed the safety strap on her holster and removed the gun in a slow, steady motion so that their attacker wouldn't think she was about to try something. She made sure that the woman saw that the gun's safety was still engaged as she grasped the weapon by the barrel before tossing it off to her right. It clattered noisily against the cobblestones of the alley before it came to rest about a meter behind where the woman was standing.

"And your backup weapons," the woman stated, glancing at Hawkeye pointedly. Repeating the same movements, Hawkeye reached behind her back, underneath her jacket and withdrew the two pistols in the same cautious manner as before. This time the guns landed less than half a meter from her primary weapon. Now disarmed, Hawkeye kept her hands open in front of her, raised to shoulder height. "Good. Now, this is what is going to happen. Captain Hawkeye, you're going to turn around and start walking backwards towards me. You," she waved the gun at Al, who twitched back slightly, "are going to stand right there. You are not going to try anything to stop us. We are going to leave, and in ten minutes you can leave too." She glared at Al.

Al knew that, if it meant protecting him, Hawkeye would comply with this woman's orders. The entire team had been more than a little protective of him ever since he'd gotten his body back. But his gut was telling him that, despite her ridiculously cool and calm demeanor, she wouldn't remain stable for long. He wasn't sure why he knew that, but he thought it had something to do with the look in her eyes. There was hate, jealousy, rage, and desperation warring in them, and Al knew he had to do _something_ to stop Hawkeye from leaving with her.

In one smooth movement, he brought his hands up sharply and clapped them together, even as he twisted out of the path of the gun. He startled the woman and out of reflex she squeezed the trigger, firing a shot. Fortunately, the bullet missed and buried itself in the wall to the left of Al's head. He slammed his hands into the wall, and – taking a page out of Teacher's book – created a solid stone staff. Turning around again before the woman had a chance to adjust her aim, he swung his staff right into her wrists. She reacted instinctively and dropped her gun, taking two quick steps back so that she wouldn't be hit again. Her anguished, angered growl was cut off by Alphonse charging into her personal space and engaging her in hand-to-hand combat, the staff being too awkward for the narrow confines of the alley.

They fought for several minutes, exchanging blows and counters as the limited battleground allowed. The longer the battle went on, the more surprised Al became. He would have thought that – given what they'd deduced about her fighting skills and need for a blitz attack – that she would have been more easily subdued. He knew it was stupid to go into a fight expecting a quick win, but this fight was lasting much longer than he'd thought it would. For every blow that she landed, he got two in, but it didn't seem to be making any difference to her.

She landed a kick on his knee and he felt it start to buckle, but he adjusted his stance and managed to keep from falling, thanks to his years of training with Teacher and Ed. She seemed surprised that her attack failed and he used that to his advantage. Thrusting the heel of his palm upward, he struck the bridge of her nose and broke it. Her eyes lit up in fury even as she grunted in pain and her eyes watered. She came right back at him and landed a blow to his face. He felt the edge of something metal on his forehead before he was blinking blood out of his eyes where it ran down from the cut that she'd just opened up.

He didn't let the wound stop him and managed to retaliate with a kick to her ankle, but she surprised him again by moving her leg with the blow instead of going down to the ground, before she brought her foot up to kick him in the chest and no doubt bruising some of his ribs in the process. Al had learned a long time ago that in a fight you should never go easy on your opponent because of their gender. Teacher had drilled that lesson into his head more than once in the time he'd studied under her, so he wasn't holding back or pulling any of his punches. That was why he was puzzled by the fact that this woman wasn't going down as easily as she should have been.

That was when the horrifying realisation sank in. He wasn't taking her down as quickly as he'd thought because he wasn't as strong as he had been when he was bonded to the armour. He wasn't even quite at the same level as he had been before _that_ night because his doctor had forbidden him from training until nearly three months after the Promised Day. Even once his doctor had given him permission to start training again it had only been in short sessions that increased in duration every week. He'd only resumed training at what had been close to his normal sessions a couple of weeks before he had been cleared to join Ed on missions again, but he still had a ways to go to get back to where he'd been before _that_ night.

Shaking his head to rid himself of distracting thoughts, he blocked another blow aimed at his face and suddenly realised that she wore a set of metal cuffs on each wrist – no doubt the object that had caused the cut on his forehead. He tried to capture her hand and twist her into an arm lock, but she broke his grip before he could secure her. As she moved back into her fighting stance, he caught a quick glimpse of the arrays etched into the metal of the cuffs. He didn't get a good enough look at them to deduce what the arrays would go, but he did feel a little bit of pride at being proven right about the serial killer being an alchemist. He kept pressing her, refusing to give her an inch so that she could activate those arrays, but that also meant that he didn't have a chance to use another transmutation of his own.

"I am too close to finishing this! You won't stop me when I'm _finally_ so close to getting what that bastard stole from me! Not after I've killed six people to get this far! I won't let you!" the brunette screeched at Al. Her hand lashed out suddenly and she clawed at his face, her nails gouging into his check and causing more blood to run down his face. "Her bastard of a father kept it from me this long, and I won't let _you_ stand in my way!" she howled, her fighting suddenly changing from somewhat disciplined to more animalistic and desperate.

The sudden change in behaviour caught Al off guard and a lucky kick to his sternum, right over his bruised ribs, sent him stumbling back enough for the woman to scoop her gun up from the ground where Al had batted it away. She lunged forward and with a vicious swing, pistol-whipped Al across the side of his head, sending him crashing to the ground. The blow was devastating enough that he couldn't get back up right away as he was still struggling to draw in a breath. She scrambled back from him and pointed her gun at Hawkeye, who had called out to him and moved to his side. The brunette's hands were no longer steady and they shook in anger as her wild eyes bored holes into Hawkeye.

* * *

Hawkeye watched, waiting for an opportunity to help Alphonse and silently cursing their current location. The alley was one of the narrower ones in this part of the city, and there was barely enough room for Alphonse and the woman to fight, let alone all three of them. If she tried to help, she'd only impede Al, and she knew that he was the better hand-to-hand combatant out of the two of them. Her only positive thought was the evidence that the BAU and her team had uncovered that told them the killer was not the best at hand-to-hand, relying on blitz attacks to subdue her victims. That didn't mean that the woman didn't get a few good blows in, however, and soon Al had blood running into his eye from a cut on his brow, impairing his vision slightly. The woman had dropped the gun, but Hawkeye knew she wouldn't be able to get to it or any of her own without getting in Al's way.

She watched as the younger Elric fought valiantly against their attacker, but even though he was one of the best fighters Hawkeye had ever had the privilege of knowing, she also knew how much Al had been struggling to get his fighting form back to the level it had been before the Promised Day. Despite this woman not being trained to the same degree as the Elric brothers, she _did_ have some training beyond what was offered at the military academy. The longer the fight went on, however, she more Hawkeye could tell that the woman was allowing her emotions to influence her moves.

Even though Al was doing his best to push the fight closer to the mouth of the alley to create an opening for Hawkeye to get to one of the guns laying on the ground – her own or the one their attacker had dropped – the woman was too skilled a fighter and wasn't giving any ground to provide her with an opportunity to get to one of the guns.

"I am too close to finishing this! You won't stop me when I'm _finally_ so close to getting what that bastard stole from me! Not after I've killed six people to get this far! I won't let you!" the woman screamed suddenly, and then Alphonse was stumbling backwards, new gashes on his cheek which were bleeding freely. "Her bastard of a father kept it from me this long, and I won't let _you_ stand in my way!" The blow to Al's face was followed up by a kick to the sternum that doubled the teen over.

Her father? What did this have to do with Berthold Hawkeye? Her father had been dead for over a decade at this point, and even before his death the two of them had lived an impoverished, mostly isolated life in their run-down home. Somehow, this whole situation was connected to her father?

Hawkeye realised the woman's plan a moment later and moved to intercept, but she was too late. The gun was in the woman's hand and then Al was sent crashing to the ground under the impact of a sickening blow to his head. "Alphonse!" she cried, ignoring the gun as she knelt down next to the boy who was sluggishly trying to get back to his feet and get his breath back. His golden eyes were glazed in pain and confusion when she pressed on his shoulder to keep him from moving. "Stay down and listen to me," she insisted, speaking quickly as she heard their attacker moving towards them. A thought occurred to her and she reached into her jacket pocket, extracting something and shoving it into Al's pocket before the woman noticed, while Al's body provided cover for her actions. "This has something to do with my father. Talk to General Mustang. Figure it out," she ordered as she felt the barrel of the gun press against the base of her skull.

"Get up."

The hissed order sounded directly behind her. Hawkeye raised both of his hands and tried to ignore Al's mumbled protests and his weak grip on her jacket, trying to stop her. She stood slowly, feeling his hand fall away from her uniform. As soon as she was on her feet, a hand grabbed the back of her jacket and yanked her backwards, away from Alphonse, before turning her towards the mouth of the alley. The cold steel of the gun's barrel disappeared from her skill only to be jabbed into her left side. Hawkeye could tell from the position and the angle it was aimed at that if that gun fired, she would be killed instantly.

"We're going to walk out of this alley and down the street to where my car is parked. If you try to resist or try to escape, I will shoot you and then I will come back to this alley and shoot him." The threat was deadly serious, the woman's voice cold in between semi-controlled breaths as she attempted to calm down from her fight against Al.

Hawkeye could hear Al calling out for her, and the sound of something scraping against the cobblestones before there was a crashing sound. She knew Al was trying to get back up to help her. She walked past her discarded weapons and resisted the instinct to try and grab one. She knew she would never avoid the bullet fired into her side completely, and she refused to take the chance that she might not succeed. She had no doubt that if she failed, the woman would carry out her threat and it would cost Al his life. So she did as she was ordered and continued walking away with the gun digging painfully into her side.

* * *

Al couldn't think straight. His head felt like it had been caved in, and the blood seeping from his injuries ran down his face and into his eyes, causing his vision to go red. He felt Hawkeye next to him and heard her whispers as she shoved something into the pocket of his jacket. He could see the blurry figure approach them and saw the glint of the weapon as it was pressed to the back of Hawkeye's head.

He heard the woman hiss something to Hawkeye and he tried desperately to grasp her jacket to try and stop her from leaving. His instinct that this woman was unstable had been proven right and he didn't want to imagine what she would do to Hawkeye to get whatever it was she was after. Hawkeye was wrenched out of his feeble grasp and he tried to protest as she was turned away from him. The gleam of the gun told him it was now pressed into Hawkeye's side, hidden from view if someone were to walk past the two of them so as not clue someone in on the fact that Hawkeye was being kidnapped.

He tried forcing his body to cooperate and get up so he could stop the woman but he never made it further than getting a leg under himself before he collapsed back to the ground. His mind was so fuzzy and his head hurt so much that he knew that if he attempted any alchemy, he'd likely cause a rebound. He finally got to his hands and knees and crawled a few steps just as the women disappeared around the corner. His arms trembled violently and he crashed back down onto the filthy alley floor. He tried once again to get himself up but he couldn't even lift his arms anymore. Before he could try again, there was a violent stab of pain in his head and his vision went black before he lost consciousness, hoping that Ed would know something was wrong soon.

* * *

"You know," Reid said as they ate dinner back at the office. Breda – the gourmand that he was – had recruited Sheska to go with him to get food for everyone that night while Hawkeye and Alphonse had left to go and take care of Black Hayate. They'd set food aside for the two of them, but everyone else had dug in while discussing the things they'd learned that day and planning their strategy for the next day. "There's one possibility that we haven't really considered since the first day we got here."

"What're you thinking, boy genius?" Morgan asked.

"Initially we had considered the possibility that this was revenge against Mustang as part of a previous relationship that he was in, but you ruled that out based on the complex nature of this frame job and the fact that all of the General's known previous relationships are accounted for – but that still doesn't preclude the idea that the killer could be a woman," Reid said.

"How so?" Havoc asked. "Like you said, all of the women who've been threats to the Boss in the past are either in jail or he's out of their reach."

"We ruled the women out because there wasn't enough evidence to support the idea that this was revenge for a jilted romance," Reid explained, "but a woman could have some other legitimate reason – in her own mind – to want revenge on the General. Among serial killers, men are more likely to have a sexual motivation. Women tend to kill for profit or power, and they are also more likely to be pragmatic about the act."

"So, even though this isn't about a romance, General Mustang could have offended a woman in some other way, and now, after stewing about it for a long time, she decided to act?" Edward asked, wanting to make sure he understood what Reid was saying.

The agents all nodded. Hotch picked up the thread of Reid's idea. "Women are almost always going to be organised killers, and they rely on their ability to win their victim's confidence. They're more likely to work alone, rarely have a prior criminal history, and are more likely to have a higher body count than men, because they kill in more subtle ways."

"Subtle ways?" Fuery asked, shyly.

"Poisons, suffocation, drugs," Morgan elaborated. "They also have longer careers as killers. Because women take their time and operate more cautiously, when they do begin to kill, they could do so for eight to eleven years before people catch on to the pattern of deaths around them. Men are more flamboyant and are easier to catch, so their killings sprees last an average of two years."

"But fire isn't associated with women, is it?" Breda asked.

"Not as a rule, but fire is also one of the least common ways for killers to utilise. If a body is burned, it's usually to hide evidence or make sure the body is unrecognisable, not to actually be the cause of death," Reid said. "That's what makes this case so unique. If this is a woman, then she's acting in a way that is outside the statistical norm for her gender."

Ed glanced at the wall clock. Alphonse and Hawkeye had assured them that they would be back to the office two hours after they'd left, and that two-hour mark had just passed by without any sign of them. He wasn't quite inclined to panic just yet though. It was possible that they'd just been held up on their return. Getting through security to enter Central Command could be a bit of a chore these days, even for him, and he had the pocket watch of a State Alchemist to aid his efforts. It was also possibly that Hayate's walk had taken a little longer than Hawkeye had expected, or perhaps another officer had stopped them in the hallway for some reason.

"So if women are more likely to be subtle in their killing, what could have driven one to murder in this fashion, if fire is such a rare cause of death?" Ross asked with a frown. "Is it just for the purposes of framing General Mustang?"

"In this case, I'd say that's the most likely reason," Rossi replied after a moment of thought. "It could also be a manifestation of her mental illness. Fire is often symbolic of rage. She could be torn between the cool, calculating, organised killer that we're seeing in her behaviour at the crime scenes and an inner hatred and rage at Mustang that is causing her to lash out in a destructive way like this to attempt to appease that rage."

They spent several more minutes picking apart the different angles of Reid's theory, trying to see if it could fit into the evidence they'd collected so far. The entire time, Ed kept one eye on the clock. He was growing more and more anxious each time the minute hand ticked over to the twelve, and he eventually stopped contributing to the discussion in favour of dividing his attention between the clock and the office door.

"Calm down Chief," Havoc laughed once a full half hour past the deadline had come and gone. "I'll bet you Captain Hawkeye ran into Rebecca or one of her other friends and got caught up gossiping or something like that. You know what women can get like when they start chatting," he added, nudging Ed in the ribs with his elbow before wincing at the glares leveled at him from Ross, Prentiss, JJ, and Sheska.

Ed cracked a strained smile at Havoc's discomfort as the lieutenant tried to appease the women. But as he looked around the room, he could see that the rest of Mustang's team was as worried as Ed felt. The BAU weren't looking any more relaxed either.

While unlikely, on any other day it was just barely remotely possible for Hawkeye to have gotten caught up talking with Rebecca, but Hawkeye was punctuality personified – if she had promised to be back in two hours, she would be back in two hours. She wouldn't have delayed, knowing that the team would be worried if they weren't back on time. That wasn't even taking into consideration the fact that Al knew that Ed hadn't lost the 'overprotective big brother' attitude that he'd acquired when Al got his body back. He would never worry Edward for so long unless something was stopping him.

Ed was moments away from going out and looking for their missing team members when there was a knock at the door. "Enter." His voice almost cracked with relief when the door opened, however, the sight of his brother and his friend was not what he was greeted with. "Rebecca?" Ed was surprised. He'd only met Lieutenant Catalina a couple of times in the years he'd been with the military, normally when she came to speak with Hawkeye about something while he happened to be in the office, but he knew the two women were more likely to meet in the mess hall or at a restaurant in town rather than at the office.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric. Congratulations on your promotion, sir!" Rebecca said, saluting him sharply. Ed sighed and waved her out of it. "I'm sorry to interrupt your night sir, but I was supposed to meet Riza when she came back from walking Black Hayate to discuss what time she expected to finish up here tonight so we could head back to my apartment. I was expecting her a half hour ago, but she never showed. I thought she might have come back here first."

Something was wrong. Ed could feel his blood racing, pounding in his veins.

"Havoc, Fuery, Morgan, can you please go to Captain Hawkeye's apartment? Check and see if Black Hayate is there?" Havoc shot him a questioning look and Edward explained his reasoning. "If he is, that means something happened when they were either on their way to her apartment or after they finished Hayate's walk. Rebecca, do you know the route that Captain Hawkeye usually walks Hayate along?"

"Yes, sir," she stood a little straighter, looking ready to obey any order he gave her.

"Would you go with them? If Hayate isn't at the apartment, something must have happened on the walk. Use the Captain's phone to call us when you're at her apartment, please." The four nodded and headed out of the office. Ed slumped in his chair, running a hand through his bangs before he rubbed the back of his neck.

"What do you want us to do, Ed?" JJ asked, her voice soothing and calm.

Ed sighed and shrugged. "We can't do anything until Havoc and the others report back. I could be overreacting, but…"

"You don't think you are," Hotch stated, and Ed nodded.

"Something's wrong. I can feel it," Ed insisted. "I've known Captain Hawkeye since I joined the military, and she is the most punctual, reliable person I know. If she said she would be back in two hours, she'd be back in two hours, even if it means cutting Hayate's walk short. We just need to wait for Havoc. Once we know whether or not Black Hayate is there, we'll know where to focus our search."

No one bothered to comment on how it sounded like Ed was trying to convince himself to wait for that phone call.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the phone on Hawkeye's desk shrilled in the quiet of the office. Ed snatched it up immediately. "Havoc?" His shoulders sagged slightly in relief, telling those in the office that Havoc indeed the person on the other end of the line. "Black Hayate's there?" Ed sounded like he was repeating what Havoc was saying, rather than actually asking the question. "No, ask Rebecca what route Captain Hawkeye would have taken to get back to the office and –"

A frantic knock at the door had Ed cutting himself off. "Shit, hold on for a moment Havoc," he said before looking at the door. "Enter!" Ed said, a little annoyed by the interruption.

The door opened and a very nervous private entered the room, eyes finding Ed immediately. "Lieutenant Colonel Elric?" he asked and Ed nodded impatiently. "I've been asked to inform you that your brother was found unconscious in an alley half an hour ago. He'd been taken to Central Hospital and is being treated by Doctor Evans, sir."

Ed's heart almost stopped. "Al's at the hospital? What happened?" he demanded, and shoved down the guilt he felt that his harsh tone caused the private to flinch slightly.

"It looked like he was beaten, sir. We were only able to confirm his identity ten minutes ago when we arrived at the hospital. I was sent here immediately to inform you, sir," the private told him.

"What about Captain Hawkeye?" Ed asked. He could faintly hear Havoc repeating everything he heard through the phone to the others, but didn't pay any attention to the other team, as focused as he was on the private.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't know what you're asking?" the private admitted.

"I'm asking where she is! Captain Hawkeye and my brother were out together. If you found him, where is she?" Ed asked tersely. He saw the moment the private understood what Ed was asking.

"I'm sorry, but only your brother was found in the alley, sir. We did find three pistols lying in the alley, some distance away from your brother. There wasn't anyone else there," he said apologetically. Ed heard Havoc swear softly and Ed nearly did the same.

"Alright. I have new orders for you, Private. Go to Führer Grumman's office and tell him what you just told me. Tell his secretary, Samantha, that you were sent by me and it's extremely important that you see him immediately. Tell him that I'm going to the hospital to check on Al, but I'll come and brief him on whatever Al tells me. We'll also notify General Mustang."

The private heard the dismissal in Ed's tone and saluted quickly before turning on his heel and hurrying out of the office, pulling the door closed in his wake. Everyone else stood up, waiting for orders about what to do next. Ed sighed before returning his attention to the phone. "Havoc? Change of plans. You guys head to the crime scene. Find out what happened. Keep Rebecca with you until we know what's going on. After you've been told everything, come back to the office. We'll meet you back here."

"_Yes, sir,_" Havoc replied seriously before hanging up the phone. Ed hung the phone up as well before turning to the rest of the team.

"What's the plan, Edward?" Hotch asked.

"Hotch, can you and Breda go and join the others at the crime scene? It shouldn't be too hard to find it." The two men nodded and left immediately, Hotch following Breda. "Reid, JJ, and Lieutenant Ross, I want you guys with me while I talk to Al. Prentiss, Rossi, Sheska, and Falman, can you stay here in case people decide to drop by once word gets out? I imagine there'll be a couple of people who will try to take advantage of the fact that I won't be here to snoop around."

"We'll hold down the fort," Rossi promised before gesturing towards the door. "Go to the hospital and check on Al," he urged and Ed nodded.

"Thanks, guys," he said softly before he sped out of the room, closely followed by Reid, JJ, and Ross.

Rossi watched as the door swung shut behind them before he sat back down in his chair, hoping that any injury Alphonse had suffered wasn't severe, and that Hawkeye and Al had simply been separated for some reason. But he knew from the looks on everyone's faces when the private had told them that Hawkeye hadn't been at the scene that everyone else had the same thought in his head: Al and Hawkeye had been ambushed somehow and Hawkeye had been kidnapped while Al had been knocked unconscious. Rossi just hoped that the blow Al must've suffered to his head wouldn't affect his memory or pose a risk to his life. This killer had already proven how ruthless he (or she, if Reid's theory was correct) was, and Rossi had an awful feeling that they couldn't afford to waste any time.

* * *

Ed, JJ, Ross, and Reid made it to the military car park in record time and Ed wasted no time in ordering a car and driver. The warrant officer, who had been sitting in the office ready to assign a car for any higher-up of the appropriate rank who requested one, hadn't wasted any time questioning where they were going. He barely had the car pulled up to where the four of them were waiting before he was being ordered to get them to the hospital _now_.

The soldier drove as fast as he safely could, aided by the fact that at this time of night traffic was light. It was only a matter of minutes before they were pulling up in front of the hospital's entrance. Ed was out of the car before it had even come to a full stop. JJ and Reid were on his heels while Ross hung back long enough to thank their driver and send him back to Central Command with a promise that they'd call if they needed another call. As the car pulled away, she hurried into the hospital to catch up with the rest of the group. She reached them just as Edward cornered a nurse for answers.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric," the nurse greeted them, stopping Edward from demanding any information on his brother. "Doctor Evans is waiting for you outside of your brother's room. Please follow me." The nurse turned and led them down the hallways towards Al's room.

Doctor Evans was indeed waiting outside one room in particular. He spotted them immediately and indicated that the nurse should go into the room, but stopping Ed and his companions from following her. "Lieutenant Colonel Elric, I wish I could say it's good to see you, but given the circumstances…"

Ed gave a tired, humourless chuckle, but his attention was divided between the doctor and the door. "Same here, Doc. What happened? How badly hurt is he?" he asked, his gaze coming back to the doctor.

"Your brother was found in an alley by a homeless man. Apparently, he'd decided to sleep in that particular alley because it's one of the cleaner ones and he stumbled upon Alphonse lying unconscious. He alerted a nearby business and they called for an ambulance," Evans told him. "No one knew who he was until he arrived here and Nurse Emma recognised him. That's when we told the private who had accompanied the ambulance to find you and inform you."

Ed nodded impatiently, his golden eyes flicking over to the door again and back. He shifted his weight from his right leg to his left and balled up his fist before relaxing it over and over again.

Evans seemed to realise how tightly Edward was controlling himself and keeping from running into the room to be with his brother. "He's still unconscious, but judging from his injuries, he was in a fight shortly before he was hit on the right side of his head with a blunt object. From the size and pattern of the wound, it looks like a narrow-width pipe, or possibly the barrel of a pistol."

"What are his injuries, Doctor?" JJ asked and Evans barely spared her a glanced before meeting Edward's eyes and silently asking if it was okay to answer that question in front of the two strangers. Ed nodded shortly.

"They're friends, Doc. They're part of the team Mr. Rossi is on."

Now that Edward – as Alphonse's guardian – had given him permission, Evans answered the question. "Overall, his injuries weren't serious. He has quite a bit of bruising and some minor cuts and scrapes. He has at least three bruised ribs, although our tests didn't reveal any that were broken, and his left knee is badly swollen, and likely sprained, possibly from being kicked or he could have twisted it when he fell after he was struck on the head. His head wound is not as severe as Lieutenant General Armstrong, as there's no underlying fracture of the skull, but that doesn't mean that he's out of the woods yet. He's still unconscious and while we haven't had to place him in a medically induced coma, there's still the possibility that we may have to if his vital signs deteriorate at all. As you undoubtedly know from your own medical history, head wounds can be unpredictable. Your brother may still end up suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage or there may be further complications that we don't know about yet and won't know about until he regains consciousness and we can run further tests."

Edward seemed to pale a little bit as Evan's words sunk in. He swallowed hard and nodded in understanding.

"Due to his recent injuries and his recovery, I'm not going to discharge him until I'm certain that he's not in any danger. I'll be able to give you a better estimate of when that will be once I've run the tests I need to," Evans said sternly. Ed didn't bother arguing, and Evans' expression softened a little at the sight of the naked worry written all over his face. "I have every confidence that your brother will recover completely Edward. I've learned that not much can keep an Elric down for long." He was rewarded with a small huff of laughter from the blond alchemist, but as quick as that small piece of humour came, it was gone again and Edward looked serious and worried again.

"Doctor, has anyone else turned up unconscious or asking for Al? Perhaps a blonde woman in a military uniform with the rank of Captain, maybe?" Ed asked and Evans shook his head.

"No, no one matching that description has been admitted or been brought to my attention. May I ask why?"

Ed sighed and rubbed his left hand over his face. "Captain Riza Hawkeye – you might remember her from when she and Mustang were admitted after the Promised Day – was with Al this afternoon and no one has seen her since Al was found. It's very unlike her, and we were thinking that if Al was injured in a fight, the Captain might have been injured and admitted as well."

Evans shook his head. "I'll make sure the nurses and other staff members are aware and have them keep their eyes and ears open, though," he promised.

"Thanks Doc," Ed said sincerely. "Can we go in and sit with Al?" Ed gestured to the door and Evans nodded, more than a little impressed with the blond's self-control. It wouldn't have been all that long ago that Edward would've just barged into his brother's room, regardless of what the doctors or nurses said.

"Of course. Keep quiet though and if he shows any sign of waking up or if he seems to be in any kind of distress, call for me or a nurse," Evans ordered. "Don't try to wake him up – he'll wake on his own." The doctor opened the door and stood aside. Ed nodded in agreement as he passed the doctor, heading straight for the chair already positioned next to his brother's bed. The nurse was scribbling something on Al's chart and offered Ed a quick but reassuring smile before she put the chart back in its place on the hook attached to the footboard. Ed barely noticed when Evans closed the door softly behind himself.

Al was hooked up to an I.V. drip and oxygen mask. Ed could see blue and purple bruises blooming on Al's skin along with the scratches that the doctor had mentioned on his cheeks. The nurses had been forced to shave some of his hair off on the right-hand side of his head. Thick, black thread was holding his brother's scalp together, but he didn't feel any disgust or revulsion at the sight of the stitches; all he felt was rage settle under his skin. The only thing keeping him from lashing out and finding something to punch was the knowledge that he _would_ be making the person who attacked his brother and kidnapped one of the people he considered family pay for what they did sometime in the very near future.

"Edward?" Ross' voice pulled him out of his plans on how he would make this person pay and brought him back to the present. Ross was standing guard at the door while JJ and Reid had taken the extra chairs and were sitting on the other side of the bed.

"Sorry. What do you need, Miss Maria?" Ed asked as he forced himself to look at the Lieutenant rather than stare at his brother' still form. Staring at Al wouldn't cause him to wake up any faster, after all.

"Would you like me to call the office and inform everyone else there about Alphonse's condition?" she offered and Ed felt a sudden pang of guilt. He hadn't even thought about letting everyone else know how Al was doing.

"That would be great. Thank you, Lieutenant," Ed gave her a weak smile and she responded with an encouraging smile in return before she slipped out of the room, the door clicking shut behind her.

"He'll be fine, Edward. You heard Doctor Evans," JJ said, her voice soothing and warm. Ed nodded as he let himself slouch down further in his chair to get comfortable. He had far too much experience figuring out the most comfortable position to sit in these chairs for long periods of time during the months Al was hospitalized after the Promised Day.

"I know. It's like the doc said: us Elrics are tough bastards to keep down for a prolonged period of time and we have a tendency to come back swinging twice as strong," Ed replied with a small laugh before he sobered again. "But it's not just Al I'm worried about."

"You're worried about Captain Hawkeye," Reid said knowingly and Ed nodded.

"As much as I hate the fact that he's here, at least I know where Al is and that he's safe," he told them, glancing back at his brother. "We have no idea where Captain Hawkeye is or why their attacker kidnapped her. The Captain is one of the toughest people I know, but that doesn't mean I'm not worried about her." The two agents nodded understandingly.

"Doctor Evans said that Al's head wound wasn't as bad as General Armstrong's. I'm willing to wage that he'll have most – if not all – of his memory where the attack is concerned. Once he wakes up, he'll probably be able to answer most of the questions this case had created, and why Captain Hawkeye was taken. We just have to patient for a little while longer."

Ed knew that the agent was right. He knew how stubborn his brother was, and he was likely to wake up long before anyone expected him to. With a sigh, he made himself a little more comfortable in the chair and waited.

* * *

Ed wasn't sure what had brought him out of his thoughts a couple of hours later. He looked up from where he was staring vacantly at a random section of the wall and checked on the other occupants of the room. Ross had returned shortly after leaving to make her phone call and resumed her place next to the door, guarding it like she and Brosh had done when Ed had been hospitalized after the Fifth Laboratory. She hadn't moved since, other than when a nurse had come into the room to check on Al. JJ and Reid were still seated on the opposite side of the bed, Reid with a book he'd taken from his shoulder bag and JJ with her notepad filled with case notes, both of them staying busy while they waited.

Seeing that none of his companions had tried to get his attention, Ed glanced at Al, more out of habit more than anything. To his surprise and cautious delight, Al's face had screwed up slightly, like he was trying to wake up, but didn't want to. Ed immediately sat up straighter, all of his focus now on his brother.

"Alphonse?" he called softly, instantly gaining everyone's attention, since he hadn't said a word since they'd settled down in their chosen places. All four of them were now watched Al with bated breath. After a moment, Ed called out to his brother again. "Al?" This time Al's face screwed up once more before his eyes fluttered open. Ed got to see a brief glimpse of his golden eyes before Al closed them again against the brightness of the room. "Lieutenant Ross –" Ed started, but Ross was already ahead of him.

"I'll get the doctor," she assured him, already halfway out of the room as she spoke. Ed didn't even get a chance to thank her before she was gone, so he focused his attention back on his little brother.

"Al?" he called again, a little louder this time. Al mumbled something, but didn't open his eyes. "Alphonse Elric, get your arse up this instant," Ed ordered without any heat in his voice.

Al mumbled something a little louder that sounded suspiciously like "fuck off".

Ed grinned. "And you say I'm grumpy when you wake me up. I might have to wash your mouth out with soap the way Mum would have if she heard you talking like that. At least now you know how it feels to have your brother goad you into waking up after being knocked unconscious. You might have some sympathy for me next time," Ed teased while the agents rolled their eyes.

"If we're talking about foul mouths, it's pot calling the kettle black," Reid muttered, just loud enough for Ed to hear him. Ed glared at his friend.

Ed's words had the intended effect though. Al opened his eyes fully, blinked once or twice as they adjusted to the light, before he turned his head to glare at his brother, causing Ed to give him an unconvincingly innocent smile. He took in his surroundings as Ed's taunts sank in, giving Reid and JJ an small smile when he spotted them. "What happened?"

Ed felt ice creep down his spine. "What do you remember?" he countered, hoping that Al hadn't lost his memory of the attack.

Al frowned in concentration. "I was with Captain Hawkeye. We took Black Hayate for a walk to a park about twenty minutes from her apartment, and then brought him back after he'd had a chance to run around for a while. We were on our way back to the office, and someone called out to us from an alley. She said she had something to show us that would help General Mustang. I remember thinking that something wasn't right, but the Captain and I didn't think we could pass up the chance that she could be telling the truth, so we followed her into the alley," he said, his words slowing down as he thought it through, the pieces coming together as he spoke.

His golden eyes widened and he nearly bolted upright. Ed had predicted his movement, however, and moved quickly to push lightly on Al's shoulders, keeping him flat on the bed.

"Easy, Al. You can't sit up until Doctor Evans takes a look at you," he reassured his brother, keeping his voice far calmer than he actually felt and not mentioning the reveal of the killer's gender, more focused on keeping Al still. Thankfully, Al didn't try to fight him, but he still looked panicked.

"She kidnapped Captain Hawkeye! The woman, she's the one who framed General Mustang and she needed the Captain for something!" Al told Ed, and the elder Elric had to swallow back a curse at his – and everyone else's – gut feeling about being proven correct. He was saved from having to respond by Lieutenant Ross re-entering the room, relief flashing on her face when she looked at the now-conscious Alphonse. She stepped out of the way to allow Doctor Evans and the same nurse who had been checking on Al periodically to enter as well.

"Mr. Elric. We really do need to have a discussion about you and your brother's worrying habit of ending up in the hospital every other week," Evans said dryly. "At this rate, we might have to name a ward after the two of you." He started the necessary tests, checking Al's eyes with a penlight, asking him to move different parts of his body, or asking him to indicate when he felt something poking his arm or foot. "How are you feeling?" he finally asked after finishing the tests.

"Like I got pistol-whipped on the head," Al replied dryly. Evans responded with a flat look that would have rivaled Hawkeye's or Hotch's. "I have a pretty severe headache and I feel achy and bruised, but other than that, I feel okay. Better than I did the last time I spent any length of time here, for sure."

"You don't seem to have a concussion, so we'll give you painkillers for the headache," Evans promised. "You have a few minor injuries – a sprained knee, bruised ribs, and various other bruises and cuts. Your head wound was the most serious of your injuries. It required several stitches and you _will_ be staying here until they're removed," he added. "You didn't have a skull fracture, and I'm cautiously optimistic that you won't have any other complications, since you responded so well to my tests. What do you remember about the attack?"

Al took a deep breath and explained the events that led up to his fight with their attacker. "I couldn't figure out at first why I was having so much trouble taking her down, since she wasn't anywhere near as skilled as Teacher was, until I realised that I'm still not back up to my fighting form from before the Promised Day. She managed to get past my guard and kicked me in the ribs, and that gave her an opening to pick up her gun from where I made her drop it and pistol-whip me. I tried to get back up to stop her from taking Captain Hawkeye, but I couldn't get my limbs to cooperate and then I lost consciousness. I don't even remember being found." JJ laid one hand gently on his shoulder in a comforting gesture. "How _was_ I found? I remember being pretty far down into the alley. I don't think many people would have noticed an unconscious person from the street." Al looked at Ed for answers but it was Evans who answered.

"You were found by a homeless man who had decided to sleep in that alley for the night. He had a local business call for help. No one recognised you until you were brought here. Nurse Emma was one of the first medical people to meet the ambulance when you arrived and she recognised you and we sent a private who had accompanied the ambulance to tell your brother what happened."

"Thank you, Doctor Evans," Al smiled at the man, who merely dipped his head in acknowledgment of the thanks.

"You can thank me by not channeling your brother and trying to leave here against medical advice," Evans told him, immediately earning a chuckled promise from Al and mumbled comment from Ed. "A nurse will be in later to check on you during the night but if you need something before then, don't hesitate to find myself or a nurse," Evans said before gesturing for the nurse to follow him.

"Thanks, Doc," Ed said as the man went to follow his nurse out of the room. Ed got a simple nod before the door shut behind the doctor and the room was once again free from medical personnel.

The elder Elric turned back to his younger brother. "What happened after you entered the alley?" Ed asked softly, needing all the information Al might have left out, thinking it wasn't necessary or not relevant. JJ and Reid leaned forward in their seats and Ed noticed that JJ had her pen out and ready to write. Al seemed to have a pretty clear memory of what had happened, but Ed wondered if the agents were going to use that cognitive interview technique like Rossi had with General Armstrong.

"The woman told us she had hidden the information in an alcove towards the end of the alley, but she refused to get it herself. Hawkeye and I didn't have a good feeling about it, but we both knew that there was a chance that it was true and she did have something that could help the General and we were just being paranoid," Al sounded upset at himself but he kept talking before anyone could say anything to comfort him. "We couldn't find anything, but before we could ask her about it, we heard a gun's safety being disengaged. We turned to face her, but Captain Hawkeye couldn't draw her weapon because the gun was aimed at my head."

Edward went rigid and his eyes filled with cold fury, but he didn't say or do anything to interrupt his brother. The others noticed, but none of them drew any attention to the older alchemist's obvious rage.

"She told us how stupid we were for falling into her trap, and then she ordered the Captain to disarm herself of all her weapons, including her backups. Captain Hawkeye did as she was told, and then the woman said that Captain Hawkeye was going to come with her, and I was to stay in the alley for ten minutes, after which time I could leave," Al continued before shaking his head. "Something didn't feel right to me. I just knew that if the Captain went with her and refused to cooperate, something bad would happen, so I moved unexpectedly and got out of the line of fire, then I used alchemy to create a staff out of the wall. I managed to knock her gun away, and then we fought until she eventually got the better of me. I lost consciousness a few minutes after she pistol-whipped me, but I had to watch Captain Hawkeye leave with her." Al reached up with his hand to touch the wounded spot on his scalp, only to freeze when his hand touched his skin. "Brother?" His voice was calm and a little confused.

"What?" Ed asked, confused and a very concerned. "Is your head hurting?"

"Why did they shave my head?" Al demanded, ignoring Ed's question.

Ed couldn't help it. He laughed, loud and hard, feeling an immense sense of relief that was all that his brother was worried about. Al pouted at his brother's reaction, and even JJ, Reid, and Ross couldn't hide their amusement.

"Seriously, Al? They had to so they could stitch your injury up," Ed told him in between giggles.

"They never cut or shave your hair when you get a head injury, and you've got a lot more hair than me!" Al cried indignantly. "First it was the mechanic in Briggs, and now this? I'm never going to get a chance to grow my hair out if people keep cutting or shaving it!"

"You'd have to ask Doctor Evans, Al," Ed told him, still grinning at his little brother's indignation and childish behaviour.

"What did the woman look like, Al? Did she give you any kind of name?" JJ asked once all the chuckles had died down. Any humour in the room immediately disappeared as the seriousness of the situation enveloped the room.

"She was wearing civilian clothing, not a military uniform. It was a pair of light brown slacks and a red, long-sleeved blouse. She wore a pair of flat sandals and no jewelry that I could see. Her hair was cut short, like Miss Gracia's, but it was pinned back. It looked brunette in the light but it was a really dark brunette. She was as tall as General Mustang but she was really slight and she held the gun with her left hand," Al recounted. "She also had two metal cuffs on her wrists that had an array etched on each of them but I didn't get the chance to look at them properly so I don't know what the arrays were for," Al told them, his tone indicating that he was a little annoyed with himself for not getting that bit of information. "She also had brown eyes and I thought I saw a scar on the top of her shoulder while we were fighting." That got Reid's attention.

"What kind of scar?" he asked before elaborating when Al looked confused about why that would matter. "It would help confirm her identity if people claimed you were mistaken or couldn't be reliable because of your injury," Reid said, lightly tapping the side of his head where Al's wound would've been.

"I'm not sure. It looked old and sunken in a little," Al said before sitting up a little as he remembered something else. "It also looked a little wrinkly, not smooth like surgical scars," he told him. Reid looked contemplative as he thought over Al's answer.

"It could be a burn scar or just a large wound that required a skin graft. Maybe she never sought or received medical help when she got injured," Reid eventually said. "I guess we'll find out when we catch her. Which shoulder was this burn on?"

"Her right one," Al said immediately and Reid nodded.

"I expected so since her injury would have likely caused some kind of nerve damage and may have hindered her range of movement in that shoulder. None of the injuries the victims sustained showed evidence that she hadn't been able to swing the pipe at full strength, which is just more proof that she is left-handed," Reid explained. "Now that we know definitely that she is a woman, it explains why the blows to their heads weren't enough to kill them outright and why General Armstrong had suffered worse wounds than the others."

"Did she say anything?" Ross asked moving from her position from the door and now standing next to Ed.

"Anything other than her ruse or her threats at the start of the encounter?" JJ asked specifically, giving Ross a smile to thank her for asking.

Al thought for a moment. "During our fight, she started yelling some things about how she was so close to succeeding, and she wouldn't let me get in her way. She said that Captain Hawkeye's father had kept something from her, and that some bastard had stolen it from her. Something about the way she said that made me think she was talking about someone other than Captain Hawkeye's father. Since this all seems to be a revenge plot against the General, maybe she was talking about General Mustang?"

"That seems to be a logical assumption," Reid agreed. "General Mustang seems to have been her focus all this time, but I have to admit, I'm not sure why she's changed her focus to Captain Hawkeye."

"Captain Hawkeye said this had something to do with her father and that we should talk to General Mustang," Al agreed, "but she didn't tell me any more than that." He frowned again, catching his lower lip between his teeth and chewing on it for a moment. "Then there was the thing that really confused me. She said that she had killed six people." He said that like he wasn't confident that he was recalling the memory properly, and the agents picked up on it.

"Are you sure that's what she said, Al?" JJ asked gently.

Al scrunched up his face as he went through his memory again before nodding confidently. "Yes. She definitely said she'd killed six people to get this far and that she wouldn't let me get in the way," Al told her, voice completely sure. Everyone looked completely – and understandably – confused.

"Did she give any indication about who the sixth victim was?" Reid asked but was disappointed when Al shook his head.

"That makes no sense! There were only five victims who were killed. Both Al and General Armstrong ended up in hospital alive and Captain Hawkeye wasn't killed in the alley when this psycho was fighting Al. Who the fuck is the sixth person?!" Ed exclaimed, throwing his arms up in an annoyed gesture.

"Is it possible that Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes didn't connect a sixth victim? We all saw his original reports on Captain Bryce's death and Major Pardi's murder. They'd originally concluded that Bryce was killed by his own drunkenness and unfortunate circumstances. It took them until Colonel Summers' body was found before he started realising there was a serial killer loose," JJ suggested but Ed and Al were already shaking their heads.

"No, there were no reported deaths by fire in alleys before Captain Bryce was found," Al told them. "We would've heard about that," he told the BAU members.

"Fire deaths are pretty rare in Central," Ed explained. "It's our capital city after all, so the response time for our emergency services are pretty good. "Most fire deaths are related to burning buildings or car accidents. Any suspicious deaths involving fire would have probably come to Mustang, just because he's the closest expert in Central when it comes to burned bodies because of his experiences in Ishval."

"Are you sure?" Reid asked. "Think hard. Captain Bryce was a couple of months ago at this point, so it could have been even further back, and might have been something else that seemed to have an innocent cause. Worst case scenario, we could try to pull all the records of fire deaths within the past year, but that could still be a lot of records to sort through."

"It could also be from another city," Al admitted with a sigh. "Central is our largest city, but there's four other major cities – one in each of the four regions, and then there's also dozens of smaller cities, towns, and villages. Amestris is a big country – General Mustang said we have a population of at least fifty million. It could be hard to track down one suspicious fire death in all of that."

Ross frowned in thought. "I do remember something about a recent fire death, before Bryce that is," she said slowly. "I know that Major Armstrong wasn't the one investigating it, but most of the teams assigned to Investigations like to share cases, because sometimes that can generate unexpected leads. I remember it was definitely military-related."

The agents looked at her hopefully, wondering if she could come up with more details. Ross thought about it for another couple of seconds. "I could swear I remember hearing that General Mustang was involved in the investigation somehow, but…"

"Involved in an investigation? Mustang?" Ed scoffed. "The last time he got off his ass to investigate anything was Harding, and that was months ago. He spends all his time in meetings and paperwork these days. The only time I remember actually seeing him leave the office to visit any sort of crime scene was when that one State Alchemist assessor was found dead. Remember, Al?"

Al frowned in thought for a moment, but before he could say anything, Ed's eyes widened and he slammed his left fist against his automail leg. "We're fucking idiots, Al," he hissed, before he dropped his head into his hands. "Fucking Frank Chambers. It fits. High-ranking military, found in an alley…"

"Do you really think so?" Al asked and Ed nodded vehemently.

"Yes, it makes sense _and _he fits with the victim profile. Plus, I heard a couple of weeks ago that Lieutenant-Colonel Granger still hasn't solved his case yet," Ed told him and Al nodded in agreement.

"It would make sense but why would she kill him so much earlier than Captain Bryce?" Al asked and Ed shrugged but couldn't reply because someone else spoke up.

"Guys? Maybe you would be kind enough to fill us in on what you've just realised?" Reid asked and both Elric's flushed as they realised they'd left their friends in the dark while they were in their little bubble.

"Just over five months ago, Mustang got a call from a Lieutenant Colonel Granger asking him for his help with a body that had been discovered. It was just after Mustang and I got back from our first trip to America. Al and I were in his office at the time because I needed to hand in my report on a mission I'd just completed. When Mustang tried to palm the new case over to me, I was in a fairly petty mood because Mustang was trying to lecture me about the way I was doing my job," Ed rolled his eyes, "and I'm pretty sure I said something about him being a lazy bastard so he decided he'd be coming with us to the scene," Ed told them, completely unashamed.

Al sighed in a long-suffering way and glanced at the agents as if to say 'see what I have to deal with?' Reid and JJ were trying to hide their amusement behind their professional masks while Maria looked like she was seriously wondering how he hadn't been court-martialed yet. Ed ignored all of their expressions, although he did bump Al's shoulder with his automail hand.

"We arrived at the scene and met with Lieutenant Colonel Granger. As soon as we got out of the car, we could immediately tell why Mustang had been asked to investigate."

"General Mustang doesn't work in Investigations, though," Reid said. "Was it common for him to be called out to crime scenes?"

"Not really," Ed admitted. "He's usually only called in if a case involves fire in some way, and even then it usually has to involve alchemy in some way or another. More often than not, he ends up assigning it to me, or if it doesn't involve alchemy he assigns it to one of the others to go to the scene and bring back a report." Ed's grin slid off his face at the memory. "We were shown to the body and found the victim in the alley, burned beyond recognition. As soon as he realised who the victim was though, Mustang excused us from the investigation."

"Why?" JJ asked.

"Conflict of interest," Ed explained. "There was apparently some ongoing investigation that Mustang had initiated against Chambers, and Mustang didn't want there to be even the appearance of impropriety. I can't believe we didn't make this connection earlier because his burns were almost identical to the ones the five others suffered," Ed said, thoroughly annoyed at himself. He almost jumped when a warm hand landed on his left shoulder. A look showed him the hand belonged to Lieutenant Ross.

"No one blames the two of you for not remembering a victim whose death you didn't even investigate, nor for not connecting it to these murders. A lot of time passed between Chambers' and Bryce's deaths," Ross assured him and Ed smiled gratefully at her.

"Lieutenant Ross is correct," JJ assured the brothers. After staring them down for a moment to make sure they believed it, she asked a question. "So who was the victim?"

"Colonel Frank Chambers. He was an assessor for the State Alchemist program. His job was to review the applications submitted by potential candidates for the program," Ed said.

"You know," Reid commented. "I don't think you or General Mustang ever explained exactly how one goes about becoming a State Alchemist. You both said that State Alchemists were the best of the best, and there was some kind of exam involved, but that's all you ever told us."

Ed nodded. "Any alchemist who wants to is permitted to take the written exam, but after that there's a very involved, multi-step process. The written exam is on alchemic theory and is extremely difficult. The written exam alone eliminates most of the candidates each year. If you happen to pass the written exam, the next step is a physical exam, to make sure the candidate is healthy enough to serve the military, followed by an in-person interview. The final step is a practical demonstration in front of all of the State Alchemist assessors and some of the higher-ranked officers. Once all of those steps are completed, the application goes in front of one of the assessors for a final review, background check, and recommendation of yes or no. If the assessor decides that the candidate isn't good enough to receive a positive recommendation, he or she has the power to deny the application. An alchemist who gets a positive recommendation is submitted to the Führer for final approval and certification."

"That is complicated," Reid admitted. "How long does it take, on average to get all the way through the process?"

"After the written exam? It depends on how many candidates pass the written exam, but it's an average of one to two weeks. Mine was processed in about a week, since there were only twelve people who passed in the group that took the written with me, but there were about seventy five who actually took the written exam," Ed said with a shrug.

"Okay, so what about Frank Chambers?" JJ asked.

"His job was to assess the potential candidates, like I said. Each assessor is assigned a group of candidates to coordinate with after the written exam is over. They're responsible for collecting a background check to make sure that they don't have a criminal history, scheduling the physical and mental health exams, coordinating the interview with the higher ups, and so on," Ed explained. "An alchemist who comes with a recommendation from another officer, especially someone ranked Colonel or above, is going to get a higher level of consideration, but the benchmark to pass the tests is correspondingly higher as well," Ed explained. "My assessor thought Mustang was crazy for recommending a twelve year old, but he humoured Mustang up until I proved just how good I was when I did my practical exam."

"Okay, so how does he fit the victim profile?" Reid wondered, as JJ rapidly made notes in her notebook.

"He and Mustang had a fight a few weeks before Chambers' death," Ed replied. "Apparently, Mustang had recommended some alchemist to the program, but I don't know who it was or what their alchemic specialty was. Chambers turned the application down and Mustang was pissed off about it because apparently this alchemist would've been a huge benefit to the program and the military. I'm pretty sure Mustang was also worried about his image. It wouldn't have done him any favours for people to find out an alchemist he'd personally recommended had been denied."

Al rolled his eyes. "Brother, you know General Mustang isn't like that." Ed didn't respond to Al's objection, other than to snort in disbelief.

"Why was this alchemist denied?" Reid asked curiously.

"It was a while ago, but if I remember correctly, I think Mustang said something about him having a criminal record. It might have been something about a bar brawl?" Ed said with some uncertainty in his voice. "Under Führer Bradley's rule, that _would've_ been enough to deny the application, but Führer Grumman changed the guidelines to state that just having a criminal background wasn't cause for automatic denial, assuming that the charge was minor, and the rest of the applicant's background came back clean. I don't really remember all the details, but I do know Mustang and Chambers threatened to file complaints against one another, and Mustang definitely did."

"It certainly is possible that Chambers could have been the first victim," Reid admitted slowly, thinking everything through. "Was Doctor Cole the coroner who performed the autopsy?"

"No, Doctor Knox was the one who turned up at the scene," Ed told them. "I do remember thinking that the timing of Chambers' death was a weird coincidence, though." Al nodded in agreement, knowing where Ed was going with that thought.

"I thought so as well, Brother," Al agreed. Seeing the blank expressions of JJ, Reid, and Lieutenant Ross, Al elaborated. "General Mustang's promotion had been announced on a Friday morning, and the team spent that day and most of Saturday moving offices, before spending Sunday night at a celebratory dinner with Mrs. Hughes at her house. Colonel Chambers' body was discovered on the Monday after General Mustang was promoted, but I think they had decided he was actually killed on the same day the promotion was announced."

Both Elrics thought they saw something flash in the agents' eyes at that bit of information, but whatever it was they were thinking neither agent said anything about it.

"I think it might very well be worth looking into Colonel Chambers' death to see if there's proof of a connection to the other victims," Ross suggested. Both agents nodded in agreement.

"It certainly wouldn't hurt, and we might find more clues than we did at the other scenes, if Chambers truly was her first kill," JJ said before giving the brothers an apologetic look. "I think we really should get back to the office and brief Führer Grumman about everything."

Ed felt a pang of guilt as he realised he hadn't given Grumman a second thought or what he might be going through after learning his granddaughter had been kidnapped. At the same time, he didn't really want to leave Al's side, despite knowing he would be perfectly fine at the hospital. If he was asked, he would readily admit that part of it was because of his protective nature where Al was concerned, but also because he was a little worried that this woman would come back to kill Al before he could identify her. Ross seemed to realise his struggle.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric, with your permission, I believe I should stay here to act as Alphonse' bodyguard until further notice. Since the criminal is still at large and she has already threatened Alphonse with bodily harm, I believe a guard would be a prudent precaution to take," she said respectfully. Edward honestly could have hugged her in that moment.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Ross. Permission granted. I'll call Major Armstrong once I'm back at the office and request Master Sergeant Brosh join you as soon as he can," Ed told her and she nodded before giving him a grin.

"At least we'll be guarding the Elric most likely to stay out of trouble," she commented teasingly.

"You're never going to let go of that, are you?" Ed asked jokingly as the others laughed. Maria's response was cut off by Al letting out a surprised gasp.

"I forgot something!" Al said as he dug through the bedside table and produced his bloody and torn clothing contained in a plastic bag. He tore the bag open and pulled out his black coat, rifled through one of the pockets and handed something to Ed. "Captain Hawkeye gave me this before that woman dragged her away," Al explained as Ed took them. He recognised the material immediately and held up a pair of Mustang's flame alchemy gloves.

"Huh," Ed said as he checked them over. "She must've continued carrying his spare pair out of habit or something. It's probably a good thing she gave them to you though, Al," Ed said as he placed them safely in a pocket. "If that woman really is an alchemist and she found those gloves, she probably would've given them a try and that wouldn't have ended well for anyone."

"That was very smart thinking on her part, especially with what was happening at the time," JJ praised before standing up. "Ed, I don't want to seem pushy but we really need to go. Every minute counts," she added and Ed nodded in agreement. Both he and Reid stood up at the same time. "We'll come and visit you as soon as we can and we'll try to keep you in the loop as much as possible," JJ promised and Al nodded, giving the blonde BAU member a smile.

"Thanks for visiting, both of you. It was really kind of you," Al said, giving Reid a smile as well.

"I hope you heal up soon," Reid said with his own smile. Al nodded before turning to his older brother.

"You'd better not get yourself killed trying to find the Captain. I know what you're like so make sure you eat something every few hours and get some sleep. I don't want to hear that you've collapsed from exhaustion because you haven't looked after yourself," Al lectured as Ed rolled his eyes fondly.

"Yes, mum," Ed teased, ruffling his brother's hair, mindful of his wound. Al grumbled at that. "I'll come see you when I can. Don't do anything stupid," Ed said before heading for the door.

"That's my line!" Al called out to him as JJ and Reid left the room. Ed grinned at his brother before saying another goodbye to him and Ross and shutting the door behind him. Ed didn't move for a moment before he turned to face JJ and Reid.

"Right. Let's figure this out and finally close this case," Ed said. JJ and Reid nodded and followed behind Ed as he headed away from his brother's hospital room.

* * *

Ed had fully intended to head straight for the office before talking to the Führer so that he could see if those he'd sent to the crime scene were back or not. He planned on dragging them with him to Grumman's office so that they could give their report to Grumman and to him at the same time. His plans changed when they almost crashed into Fuery, Breda, Havoc, Hotch, Morgan, and Rebecca on the way to the office.

"Ed! How's Alphonse?" Fuery asked immediately once they all recovered from the near-collision.

"He's alright, considering what happened," Ed said with relief. "The doctor wants to keep him in the hospital until they take his stitches out, just to be certain he'll be okay, considering the condition he was in after the Promised Day. Doctor Evans just wants to make sure this isn't going to set the end of his recovery back at all since he's still not quite one hundred percent."

Fuery, Breda, and Havoc all nodded in understanding. They knew everything that had happened after all, while the agents and Rebecca only knew parts of the story.

"Al's tough. He'll be out of the hospital before you know it, Chief," Havoc assured him, clapping Ed on the shoulder. "What do you want us to do now?"

Ed smiled at his teammates. "You're coming with us. We're going to Führer Grumman's office so we can give him the whole report and none of us have to tell the story twice." When he didn't receive any complaints or objections, he led the way. At this time of night, the corridors were almost deserted, other than the skeleton staff that worked throughout the night – usually security and communications – and they made quick work of the trip to Grumman's office.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Elric," Samantha said in surprise when they opened the door and filed into Grumman's outer office. "How's your brother?" she asked as she stood so she could open the doors that led to Grumman's inner office.

"He's good. Just needs to stay in hospital for a little bit," Ed told her; secretly happy at the level of concern Samantha was showing for his brother. "We need to talk to Führer Grumman. Is anyone else in there?" Ed asked, jerking his chin towards the doors.

"No, sir. Führer Grumman cancelled all of his meetings when word of Captain Hawkeye and Alphonse reached him. He ordered me to let no one except for you, your team or Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes' team inside," Samantha told him and Ed sighed in relief. With the mood he was in right now, he knew it wouldn't end well if, say, Combes or Widdon were inside.

"Thanks, Samantha. Would you be able to do me a favour? I meant to when I got to my office but we ran into these guys part way and came straight here," Ed asked sheepishly, well aware that Samantha wasn't his secretary and had no obligation to help him.

"What do you need, Sir?" she asked.

"Would you call Major Armstrong and ask him to send Sergeant Brosh to the hospital to guard Alphonse's room in conjunction with Lieutenant Ross, please?" Ed asked and Samantha nodded immediately.

"Of course. I'll do that while you're talking with Führer Grumman," Samantha said, not-so-subtly opening the door so they could go in.

"Thank you, Samantha," Ed said, gratefully as he led everyone inside. Samantha gave him a smile before closing the door behind them.

"Edward," apparently they weren't going to using formal titles today, "what have you found out?" Grumman asked the moment he identified who'd walked into his office.

"Al woke up and told us everything. He suffered no memory loss and he's expected to make a full recovery," Ed told Grumman, not upset at the fact that the Führer hadn't asked after Al, as he was obviously far more worried about Hawkeye and Ed couldn't fault him for that. "He told us that a woman stopped them on their way back to the office after walking Black Hayate and lured them into the alley with a promise that she had information that could help us with our investigation. Al said that he and Captain Hawkeye both felt like it could be a trap but decided to follow her on the off chance it wasn't."

"Are you saying that the killer that is behind all of this chaos is a woman?" Grumman asked in surprise, looking between the agents and Ed and his team.

"Yes sir," Hotch replied. "We'd started to consider the possibility based on a different approach to the evidence, but Alphonse confirmed it after he woke up in the hospital."

"The woman pulled a gun on Al and threatened him if Captain Hawkeye didn't follow her orders," Ed explained. "Al said that once Captain Hawkeye had discarded her own weapons, the woman had ordered her to follow her out of the alley and for Alphonse to stay there for ten minutes before he could leave. Al decided to fight back and used alchemy to get the woman to drop her weapon but not before she fired a shot. Thankfully, the bullet missed both of them and Al proceeded to engage their attacker in a fight."

Grumman sighed a little bit in relief. "I'm glad that neither of them was shot, but I'm surprised no one reported hearing a shot. I would have been notified if gunfire was reported anywhere within Central."

"Well, they fought and the woman hit Al with a lucky blow that sent him stumbling back and giving her the opportunity to grab her gun and pistol-whip him in the side of the head," Ed scowled in anger at the thought of what had been inflicted on his brother. "That's when he went down and the woman was able to kidnap the Captain by threatening Al again. Al said he tried to get back up but he lost consciousness shortly after." Grumman sighed and seemed to age ten years in those few seconds.

"Did the woman give any reason for why she would want to kidnap my granddaughter?" Grumman asked after a moment and Ed nodded.

"Sort of. All the woman said was that it had something to do with Captain Hawkeye's father and that she'd done too much, killed too many people to let Al beat her now. The Captain was able to check on Alphonse and slip him the spare pair of Mustang's gloves that she carried with her and tell him that this had something to do with both Mustang and her father. She told Al we'd need to talk to Mustang, because he might be able to shed some light on everything," Ed told him and Grumman didn't look happy about this.

"My son-in-law is long dead. I do not understand why this whole situation would have anything to do with him," Grumman ground out. "What else did you learn?"

"Captain Bryce may not have been her first victim," Ed told him. "Al said she claimed to have killed six people. We have to go through the case file to be sure but Al and I believe that the sixth victim may have been Frank Chambers, the State Alchemist assessor who was murdered four months ago," Ed said and Grumman nodded in recognition.

"Yes, I remember hearing about that. Why wasn't he considered a victim in the first place?" Grumman asked, looking at the BAU members in the room as well as Ed.

"I forgot about him. Mustang and I were asked to investigate but because of whom the victim was and because Mustang and he had been fighting, Mustang didn't think it was ethical for either one of us to find be involved in the investigation. Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes wasn't assigned the case and the coroner who performed the autopsy wasn't the coroner assigned to the five known victims. No one made the connection," Ed told him.

"Members of our team will be asking the lead investigator for the case files and going over them to see if Frank Chambers could truly be the first victim of this killer. If he is, she may have left unintentional evidence behind when she killed him that could lead to her identity and, hopefully, to wherever she is holding Captain Hawkeye," Hotch smoothly interjected into the conversation. Grumman nodded in agreement.

"Who was the lead investigator?" Grumman asked and Ed gave him Granger's name. "I'll call her and have her send the case files to your office immediately," Grumman promised. "What did you learn from the crime scene?" he asked, looking at everyone as he really only knew for certain that Edward hadn't attended the crime scene.

"Edward had me, Lieutenant Havoc, Warrant Officer Fuery and Rebecca head straight to Captain Hawkeye's apartment when Rebecca showed up in the office asking for Captain Hawkeye as they were supposed have met up a half hour or so before and Hawkeye had never showed. We'd already grown concerned by that stage ourselves but I think the general consensus had been that Hawkeye and Alphonse had been delayed longer than they had planned. When we learned this wasn't the case, Edward had us check Hawkeye's apartment for Black Hayate. We left immediately to do so," Morgan explained.

"Why send them to the apartment rather than start searching?" Grumman asked Ed.

"I figured if Black Hayate was in the apartment, it would mean that they were attacked on the way to or on the way back from her apartment. If he wasn't there than they were likely attacked during the walk. Once we knew which scenario was more likely, we could start searching along the Captain's routes," Edward told him and Grumman nodded.

"What happened next?" Grumman asked, directing this question to the four who'd been at the apartment.

"I called Ed to tell him Black Hayate was in the apartment when the call was interrupted by Ed getting the news that Al was in the hospital. Once he'd gotten the news, he ordered us to find the crime scene and help investigate while he went to the hospital to see what Al had to say," Havoc answered this time. "We arrived just as Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes and his team did. When he learned that Al had been attacked and Captain Hawkeye was presumed missing, he couldn't let us on the crime scene for fear the defense could claim we contaminated it or planted evidence against the defendant. He did, however, tell us that he would inform us of everything they found the moment they found it. It wasn't very long after they started investigating that Agent Hotchner and Breda joined us." Hotch nodded in agreement with Havoc's statement.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes saw us join the others and walked over to greet us. He ended up agreeing to let myself and Agent Morgan look at the crime scene ourselves once the evidence and photographs had been collected and taken," Hotch told them. "They recovered a bullet in the alley – I assume the one fired at Alphonse – and sent it for testing. They also recovered fibers, blood spatter evidence and fingerprints that were sent to the crime lab with the bullet. Three guns, presumably belonging to Captain Hawkeye, were recovered a short distance from where Alphonse was found. They'd taken samples from the homeless person who found Alphonse and I believe Brookes sent someone to the hospital to collect any samples from Alphonse when we left to brief you, Führer Grumman," Hotch said, dipping his head towards Grumman. "Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes also had people out interviewing businesses and any by-standers but none of them had come back before we left. Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes asked me to let you know, Your Excellency, that he will have a report ready for you as soon as possible." Grumman nodded in thanks for Hotch passing along the message.

"What do you need from me?" Grumman asked, specifically looking at Hotch and Ed.

"We're gonna talk to Mustang and figure out what he knows about Captain Hawkeye's father and how they might be connected to this woman. While we do that, hopefully the case files on Chambers will be delivered to Mustang's office for us to go over. If we're lucky, Brookes will have some sort of report for us to go over as well. After that, it'll be up to wherever the evidence leads us," Ed told him.

"Alright. I'll place the call to Lieutenant-Colonel Granger once you leave and have her take everything related to the Chambers murder to your office immediately. You have my express permission to speak to me no matter what I'm doing, whoever is with me, or whatever the time of day. If I leave my office before you find Riza, you have my permission to come to the estate if you need me for any reason," Grumman told them, completely serious and leaving no room for arguments.

"Yes, sir," Ed said, bowing slightly. "We'll go talk with Mustang, by your leave," Ed said and Grumman nodded, waving them towards the door.

"Edward?" Grumman called before Ed made it out the door. Ed nodded to Morgan, who had hesitated following the rest when Ed was called back and the dark-skinned man continued. Ed turned to look at Grumman. "I am pleased to hear your brother didn't have worse injuries. I hope you'll pass along my well-wishes to him?" Ed flashed him a smile.

"Thank you, sir. We won't stop until we've gotten Captain Hawkeye back and have this woman in custody," Edward promised and Grumman gave him a knowing smile.

"I know. I'm glad you're as protective of Riza as you are of Alphonse. You should get going," Grumman said and Ed was slightly startled. He didn't realise that others had noticed how his protective nature didn't solely apply to Alphonse, Granny Pinako or Winry anymore. He couldn't say anything in response so he simply nodded sharply once before leaving the room.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Elric, I reached Major Armstrong and he has promised to send Sergeant Brosh to the hospital immediately," Samantha said as Ed hurried to catch up with the others, who were waiting on the other end of the room. "He also wanted to pass along a message to you saying that he would stop by Alphonse's hospital room when he next visits Lieutenant General Armstrong."

Ed did not envy his brother in that moment. Hospital visits from the Major tended to be not very conducive for healing. The only silver lining was that Maria and Brosh would be there to hopefully stop Armstrong from stripping and/or hugging Alphonse tightly enough to reopen his wounds.

"Thank you, Samantha. I really appreciate you doing that," Ed said but Samantha waved away his thanks and they exchanged goodbyes. When Ed joined everyone else at the doors, no one said anything as he led them out of the office and down the corridor.

"Who's going with you to tell the bossman?" Havoc asked and Ed stopped, turning to face them all.

"You, Hotch and Morgan," Ed told him. "I need the rest of you to go back to the office and wait for those files and Brookes' report. Rebecca," he looked at the woman who was Hawkeye's best friend, "I'm not sure what you want to do. I wouldn't say no to you staying with us and talking with one of the agents to see if you can tell us something that Miss Riza might have mentioned to you about her father that might help. I would, however, really appreciate it if you could look after Black Hayate, no matter what else you do?" Ed asked and Rebecca gave him a warm smile.

"I'd be happy to talk to any of your team if you think it would help and I'll look after Hayate too," Rebecca told him and Ed smiled, relieved.

"Thanks, Rebecca," Ed said before looking at Havoc, Morgan and Hotch. "Let's go talk to Mustang now. If we leave it any longer, we risk him hearing about it from the guards as gossip, if he hasn't heard anything yet." Ed really hoped he hadn't. He knew that if their situations were reversed, he would not be happy learning Alphonse had been kidnapped through gossip.

As they headed for the holding cells, Ed couldn't help but feel worried. He barely even heard, acknowledged and offered his own goodbye when those who weren't accompanying him branched off from his group to head back to the office. Part of him – the rational, logical part of him, anyway – knew that his worry that Mustang would somehow think this was his fault was misplaced. After all, he hadn't known Hawkeye was going to be kidnapped or Al was going to be beaten up and he certainly had no clue who had done it. Still, he couldn't stop that irrational part of himself from whispering in his mind that Mustang was going to hate him and blame him for this.

Ed found himself missing the comfort of his bond with the Voltron Lions in this kind of situation because they always knew what to say when his mind went down this kind of self-deprecating path and always had been quick to refute any kind of argument he made to defend those thoughts when they weren't warranted. With an internal sigh, Ed continued leading the three others to the holding cells, mind in turmoil about how Mustang would take the news.

A/N- I'm so sorry this is so late! I'm in the middle of moving house at the moment and have now only just gotten the chance to post the latest chapter! Many thanks as always to my amazing beta, PhoenixQueen, for all her hard work and also, many thanks to those of you who have bothered to leave reviews on the last chapter. It always makes my day to read a review from someone telling me what they thought of my work. Anywho, hopefully I'll be finished moving before chap 18 is supposed to go up! See you next week!


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

The walk down to the holding cells was done in silence, with Ed leading the way mostly by rote. Ed appreciated the fact that Hotch, Morgan, and Havoc were giving him a chance to think through everything that had happened that day, but that also meant that he was left alone with his thoughts. He was trying not to dwell on his worry for Alphonse, but that meant that his thoughts were turning to Mustang and Hawkeye, and more specifically what Mustang's reaction would be once he learned what had happened to Hawkeye. He knew his commander and the captain were exceptionally close, and if something happened to Hawkeye, Ed was certain that the Flame Alchemist would not be happy.

He was so lost in his thoughts and his worries that he didn't notice that they had reached the entrance to the building where the holding cells were at until he felt someone squeeze his left bicep. He looked up to see Hotch looking at him, concern in his brown eyes.

"Are you alright, Edward?" Hotch asked, the concern in his eyes reflected in his voice.

Ed felt a familiar mix of warmth and embarrassment – warmth that someone was showing that they cared about him, and embarrassment that he hadn't been able to hide his worry as well as he'd hoped. He _hated_ appearing weak, especially after everything that he and Al had been through since the night they'd performed the taboo. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just thinking," Ed told him. Technically, he wasn't lying, but he knew Hotch wouldn't be fooled into thinking it was as simple as that. Fortunately, Ed wouldn't have to find out whether or not Hotch would press for more information on the half-truth.

Ed nodded to the soldier who stood guard outside before stopping in front of the sign-in desk where they'd need to state who they were, who they were visiting, and hand over any weapons they might be carrying. For the first time, the guard didn't push the log towards them so they could sign it. His face was regretful.

"I apologise, Lieutenant Colonel Elric, but I can't permit you to visit General Mustang."

Ed froze in confusion, glancing at the agents and Havoc, who looked equally confused. "It's extremely important that we speak to him. Is it just because visiting hours are over?" He had a feeling that it wasn't quite that simple, however, a feeling that was confirmed when the soldier shook his head.

"No, sir. Brigadier General Widdon and Brigadier General Combes ordered that no one would be permitted to visit Brigadier General Mustang other than his lawyer until his trial date starts." The soldier's voice was genuinely regretful, but also nervous.

Ed allowed that answer to sink in for a moment, feeling his temper boiling the more he thought about it. "Warrant officer," he said with forced calmness, even as his golden eyes flashed dangerously, "what time was that order placed?"

"A little after one o'clock this afternoon, sir," the soldier told him, swallowing hard enough that his Adam's apple jumped. He barely stopped himself from backing off when Ed's eyes blazed molten gold with his anger.

"Do you have a phone I can use?" Ed asked, and the warrant officer looked a little thrown by the question before he suddenly realised that he had been asked a question by a superior officer and he hadn't provided an answer.

"Yes, sir; come right over here," the officer replied, inviting him to come around to the rear of the desk and gesturing towards the phone sitting on a shelf. Ed picked up the receiver and dialed a number angrily. He glared at the phone as it rang, waiting for the call to be answered.

Havoc shook his head slightly. "Oh boy. He's really mad. I haven't seen him like this since he thought that Lieutenant Ross had been killed."

"Samantha?" Edward said suddenly as the line connected. "It's Edward Elric. I need to speak with the Führer, please. It's urgent." Edward didn't ask and he didn't bother to hide the anger in his voice, but he was careful to stay courteous while he spoke. After all, it wasn't Samantha's fault that Combes and Widdon didn't know how to accept defeat graciously.

"_Of course, Lieutenant Colonel. One moment while I connect you,"_ Samantha replied.

"Thank you, Samantha," Edward managed. A moment later, he heard the Führer's voice on the line. "Widdon and Combes placed a ban on Mustang getting any visitors other than his lawyer after our meeting didn't go their way. We can't get in to talk to him unless we force our way through." He didn't bother with formalities, which he knew was probably rude, but he didn't care at that moment.

"_I'll deal with them later. For now, please put the soldier at the sign-in desk on so that I can give him his new orders," _Grumman sighed.

"Thanks, Führer Grumman," Edward said, before handing the phone to the warrant officer, who looked at the receiver like it might bite him. "It's just the Führer," Ed scowled at him. The soldier still looked scared, but he took the receiver and Ed immediately moved back to the other side of the desk to rejoin the others. He scowled in confusion at Morgan's and Havoc's identical amused grins. "What?" he asked, defensively.

"'It's just the Führer'?" Havoc repeated Ed's statement, his voice amused despite the situation. "Do you know just how unusual it is for someone below the rank of Brigadier General to actually _see_ the Führer, let along talk to him?"

Ed rolled his eyes. "Grumman's fine as long as you don't annoy him or disobey his orders," Ed grumbled, annoyed by their amusement, given the situation. Morgan let out a breathy chuckle but didn't say anything.

"Of course, Your Excellency. I apologise for the inconvenience this has caused you," the soldier said, before flushing at whatever Grumman said in response. "Thank you, Excellency. Have a good night." There was a moment's pause before he hung up the phone, although he still seemed dazed.

"Well?" Ed asked, reminding him that they were still there. The warrant officer jumped a little guiltily before pushing the log towards them.

"Führer Grumman has overruled the generals. You're permitted to visit General Mustang. I apologise for the inconvenience," he stammered as he collected the side arms carried by Havoc, Morgan, and Hotch while Ed signed in. He stepped back allowing the others access to the book.

"It's not your fault those two idiots keep trying to throw their ranks around. Truth, I hope I get to be there when Grumman rips them a new one," Ed muttered.

"Thank you, sir. You may go through now." Another guard joined them at a wave from the warrant officer, who seemed to have gotten past his nervousness now that he knew he wasn't going to be blamed for following the orders he'd been given. The four of them followed the guard towards Mustang's cell.

"Mustang, you have visitors," the guard barked as they approached. Ed could feel his nerves warring with the anger he was feeling towards Combes and Widdon, and the rage he felt towards the woman who had caused this whole situation in the first place, although his nerves were getting stronger the closer they got to the cell.

Mustang was awake, despite the lateness of the hour, and his expression was a mixed one of wary surprise and dread. "Fullmetal? What's happened?"

"Open the cell and let us in," Ed ordered the guard, ignoring Mustang for the moment.

"Sir, I'm not permitted to –" the guard began, but Ed didn't want to hear any excuses at the moment.

"Either you unlock this cell and let us in, or I will. Trust me when I say that if you force me to do that, I'll make it as expensive and difficult for the military to fix as I possibly can. The Führer is already in a bad enough mood tonight. Do you want to be the one to add to it?" he snapped, his eyes blazing ferociously. He felt a little bad for snapping at the guard and throwing his rank and reputation around, but this wasn't the sort of conversation that should be had when he and Mustang had bars between them.

The guard scrambled for his keys and fumbled through the ring before selecting one and inserting it into the lock, twisting it and swinging the door open. He kept one hand on his weapon, but Mustang didn't move from where he was seated on his cot, and the four of them entered the cell. Ed gave the guard and the cell door a pointed look and the guard was quick to shut it and lock them in. Ed didn't even have to ask the man to give them space; he was already moving to a respectful distance away.

"What happened, Fullmetal?" Mustang demanded, standing up straight next to the bed. Ed noted that even his time in the cells hadn't caused him to lose any of his usual arrogance.

Edward took a deep breath. He really didn't want to do this, but he knew Mustang would prefer to hear the news from them, rather than from some unknown soldier. He glanced at the agents on his right and Havoc on his left before he faced Mustang squarely. "Look, keep your cool. Something happened this afternoon. Al and Captain Hawkeye went to take Black Hayate on a walk, but when they were on their way back to Central Command, they were confronted by the killer."

"What?" Mustang asked and even though his tone was cold and almost detached, his onyx eyes were fixed on Edward's face.

"She led the two of them into a trap. Al fought her, but she got a lucky hit in and managed to knock him unconscious. He's in the hospital and he'll be fine in a couple of days, according to Doctor Evans." Mustang stiffened with each word Ed spoke until he made a passable statue. Ed took another deep breath and said the final part. "Captain Hawkeye was kidnapped, and from what Al told us, we think that kidnapping her was the second half of this plan."

He waited for the fallout, bracing himself for what he was sure would be Mustang's normally hidden temper. He remembered what he'd seen of it when Mustang had nearly killed Envy, and he was just grateful that, at this moment, Mustang didn't have his gloves right to hand.

"What do you mean she's been kidnapped?" Mustang asked, his voice shaking slightly with the level of control he was exerting to keep it level and calm.

"I _mean_ that the person behind the murders and your arrest tricked Captain Hawkeye and _Alphonse_," he couldn't help but slightly emphasize his brother's name in case Mustang missed that detail the first time, "into an alley, held my brother hostage, and then fought with him, knocking him out before she kidnapped the Captain for some reason," Ed replied. He couldn't stop himself from taking half a step back at the anger whirling in Mustang's onyx eyes, bumping slightly into Morgan as he did.

"How the _hell_ did you let that happen?" Mustang hissed.

Ed's eyes widened for a moment in shock before they narrowed with his own anger. "What the fuck did you just say?" he snarled, subconsciously resorting to his go-to attitude to hide any hurt he felt. He saw Havoc open his mouth, the Lieutenant probably intending to try to act as a peacekeeper between the two alchemists before the situation could get out of hand, but Mustang cut him off.

"I left this team, _my_ team, under _your_ command so you could keep them safe while you investigated this, and now my captain is missing – kidnapped! – because you didn't keep up your end of the deal!" Mustang growled, visibly trembling with fury. "Did you send her into something without investigating it properly first? I knew you were reckless, Fullmetal, but even I didn't think that you were so overconfident and stubborn that you would refuse to investigate a situation properly before putting Hawkeye in danger like that!"

Mustang's tone was low, but the emotions he was feeling were clear, and Ed couldn't help but wonder if his commander's words would hurt even more if he was yelling.

"I thought you would've learned your lesson after what happened to Maes!" Mustang's voice was rising slightly.

Havoc wasn't the only one who inhaled sharply at that. The mention of Hughes was like a shot to the heart, and it ignited Edward's temper even more, even as grief and an ugly sense of vindication at Mustang confirming Ed's darkest thoughts that Hughes' death was his fault flared, but Mustang wasn't finished yet, his low, angry tone now a rage-filled hiss. "I hope you realise that if anything happens to her, it's on you."

_Crack_.

The locks on Mustang's restraints rattled loudly as the general reeled backwards into the edge of the sink. With his hands bound, he stood no chance of catching himself as he stumbled off the basin and fell to one knee, half-sprawled against the cot, the right side of his jaw throbbing viciously in pain, even as the shock of the blow caused his vision to white out momentarily.

When he blinked and got his vision back, Edward was standing there, breathing a little heavily. The teen's golden eyes were filled with hate, hurt, anger, and – for some reason – a little bit of victory. Mustang saw him shaking his left fist loosely and was quick to realise that he had just been punched by Edward. Hotch's mask had remained in place, and he made no move to help or hinder either alchemist, but Mustang could see the disapproval and disappointment in his eyes – though neither emotion was directed towards Edward.

Morgan, on the other hand, didn't seem to have any problem letting Mustang see the raw anger that he was feeling on his face before he turned and stepped in front of Edward, blocking the younger alchemist from Mustang's line of sight. He heard the agent murmur something softly, and Edward's equally soft reply, although he couldn't make out any actual words or phrases. Havoc looked shocked and he refused to meet Mustang's eyes. With a sharp tightness in his throat, Mustang realised that it would take a very long while before Havoc would respect him more than he was required to as his subordinate again.

Shame flooded through him and his face and neck grew uncomfortably hot and prickly as he went over the words he'd spat at Edward in his blind anger. The punch had had the effect – which Ed had most likely been aiming for – of snapping him out of his shock and rage and causing him to make him think a little more clearly. Mustang opened his mouth – to apologise or demand more answers, he wasn't sure which – only to be interrupted by the guard rushing over, drawn to the cell by the commotion.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, eyes scanning the interior of the cell and stopping on Mustang, who was still half-kneeling on the ground between the sink and the cot. His eyes lingered on Mustang's face, most likely seeing the red mark where his jaw was burning from the force of the hit – a spot that would no doubt bruise spectacularly within a matter of hours. Mustang actually wasn't even sure whether or not Edward had broken his jaw for a moment.

"Everything's fine, thank you, Sergeant Munroe," Mustang assured the guard before Ed could say anything. He didn't miss the way his subordinate's eyes glanced over at him before they moved over to focus on Morgan. The agent had moved to the side a little at Edward's nod, but Mustang saw the way the agent still kept himself surreptitiously in between the two alchemists. After a moment, the guard nodded and moved away again.

"Captain Hawkeye told Al something before he lost consciousness and she was forced to leave with the killer. She told him that this whole thing had something to do with her father and that we should ask you. Why? What does he have to do with everything that has been going on?" Ed demanded.

If Mustang didn't know the teen as well as he did, he wouldn't have noticed the slight tremor in his voice that betrayed how hurt he truly was by what Mustang had said to him, despite his seemingly unfazed demeanor. When his golden eyes met Mustang's black ones, all the older alchemist could see was the determination to get to the bottom of this mystery. But Mustang also didn't miss the way that Edward twitched minutely away from him when he straightened up from the floor and rose to his feet again.

"Master Hawkeye was my alchemy teacher. I think she told you that didn't she?" Mustang looked at Morgan, who nodded a little stiffly, dark eyes alight with anger and Mustang felt a small stab of happiness that his youngest subordinate had people who cared so deeply for him but that happiness was soon swallowed as quickly as it came when he was reminded why Morgan looked as ropeable as he did.

"She did. She also told me that the more time he spent developing his research, the more paranoid he'd become, right up until the end of his life."

Mustang sighed and glanced away from the agent. "I wasn't raised by the man the way she was, so I don't know what he was like during her early childhood. What I do know is that after her mother passed away, Master Hawkeye neglected her in order to focus everything on his research. He's the one who developed fire alchemy, and he devoted decades to perfecting it." He heard a slight gasp of surprise from Ed, but when he looked up again, Fullmetal's eyes were focused on Morgan's back and he wouldn't meet Mustang's eyes. The only positive thought that he could take in that was that it appeared more as if Ed was deep in thought, rather than purely avoiding him.

"I met Hawkeye when we were teenagers, before I applied to the military academy and studied with her father for several years. There was some jealousy from her at the start of our relationship, because I was receiving more of her father's attention than she had in a long time, but we worked through that. Eventually, we became good friends." He sighed once more. "I was Master Hawkeye's apprentice right up until I decided to apply to the military academy, but he never deemed me trustworthy or capable enough to begin learning flame alchemy. I still studied under him, learning what I could about alchemy as a whole, but once he learned what my intentions were, he expelled me from his tutelage. I still joined the military, despite Master Hawkeye's less-than-approving views about it. After I graduated from the academy, I went back to Master Hawkeye and asked him to teach me fire alchemy so I could become a State Alchemist, but he turned me away. He told me he'd never teach someone fire alchemy so they could use it to benefit the military."

Ed wanted to ask about how his commander learned fire alchemy if his teacher didn't train him in it, but at the moment he just wanted to get this conversation over with so he could go back to the office and find Hawkeye. "Al said the woman screamed at him about not letting him keep her from getting what she deserved. She said that you had stolen something from her and Captain Hawkeye's father had kept something from her. What did she mean by that?"

Mustang shook his head. "I'm not sure. What did the woman look like? Did she give her name?"

Ed glared at him like he was an idiot. "No, she _didn't_ give him her name," he scoffed. "Al described her as roughly your height but thinly built with brown eyes and brown hair cut short, but that it was pinned back to show her face. There was also a scar on her right shoulder that Al glimpsed when her shirt exposed it during their fight. She's an alchemist with two arrays; they were engraved on metal cuffs that she wore on each wrist, but Al didn't get a good enough look at them to be able to describe or replicate them. Al said she seemed soft-spoken and nervous at first, but that there was something unsettling about her that made them not want to trust her completely. She lured them into the alley with a promise that she had information that could help you." Ed's jaw was stubbornly set in a silent dare for Mustang to blame him for _that_ too.

"I don't think I know anyone who fits that description who I would've believed capable of setting all of this up, or who could've been connected to Master Hawkeye," Mustang said after several seconds of contemplation where he no doubt was searching his memory for anyone that fit Al's description.

"So we're still at square one," Morgan said with a sigh. "We know what she looks like, thanks to Alphonse, but we have no idea who she is or if she really is working alone."

Mustang's eyes narrowed suddenly and his posture straightened slightly. Both agents were quick to take notice of the change. "What is it?" Hotch asked. "What did you just think of?"

"It might not be anything," Mustang cautioned, and Hotch indicated that he should continue, "but towards the end of my time studying under him, before I left to join the military academy, Master Hawkeye used to obsess about protecting his research and keeping it safe. After I graduated from the academy, I went back to Master Hawkeye to ask him to teach me flame alchemy again. What I found was that he had been very ill for some time and wasn't expected to live much longer. I begged him to teach me, and tried to convince him that if he would apply to the military he'd be able to get grants for his research, and enough money to get better treatments for his illness, but he told me that he didn't need grants for something he'd already completed. His exact words were, 'I've created the most powerful alchemy. It would only cause tragedy if I placed it in the wrong hands. And now that I've completed it, I've allowed myself to grow complacent'."

"What does that have to do with this unknown woman?" Havoc asked.

"There was something else. He also used to rant about untrustworthy apprentices trying to steal from him, and he often spoke about keeping his research from the wrong hands, from _her_ hands. I never asked what he was talking about, especially after I learned how ill he was. At the time, I thought they were just the ravings of a sick and paranoid old man. I also never thought to ask if he'd taken an apprentice on before me." Mustang glanced at Edward and saw that the blond was following his train of thought, even as his meaning clicked for Havoc and the agents.

"You think it's possible this woman is a disgraced former apprentice of Master Hawkeye," Hotch stated and Mustang nodded.

"The only thing Master Hawkeye could have taught me that someone couldn't learn from another alchemist was flame alchemy. There's no reason to believe that in the years between when he first began developing the techniques and when he took me on as an apprentice that he didn't have other apprentices who didn't – for whatever reason – prove themselves worthy enough to pass along those techniques," he said and noticed Ed nodding in agreement.

"As a rule, alchemists are exceptionally secretive," Ed explained when the agents looked at him. "While we may write dozens of books about alchemic theory, when it comes to actually recording our processes and research, it's almost always encrypted with a code that only the alchemist who conducted the research would be able to understand. Even I keep my notes coded, although Al would have a pretty good chance of figuring out my code since we've always gone everywhere together and we've explored a lot of the same references and theories together. Well, at least all of my notes from before our third adventure. After that, all of my research and alchemy notes have been written in my code that's then been translated into one of their languages," he told them with a small shrug.

"You said Master Hawkeye passed away?" Morgan asked.

Mustang nodded. "The same night I returned to ask him to teach me again, he succumbed to his illness. Riza had warned me that he didn't have much time left, which was one reason why I went as soon as I could after I graduated."

"Where are his notes and whatever else he had on flame alchemy?" Hotch asked bluntly.

"He destroyed them shortly before he died and was bedridden," Mustang said. "He decided they were too dangerous and he was exceptionally paranoid when it came to finding a way to keep them safe so that no one but himself – or those he'd already entrusted with his research – would know the secrets of fire alchemy. He thought that would prevent anyone from abusing that power."

"Does Captain Hawkeye know how fire alchemy works?" Hotch asked.

"No. She's not an alchemist, and she refused to speak with her father about anything related to his research after he started neglecting her. She knows the general idea behind how I use it from her years of having my back during missions, but she doesn't know specific techniques and she couldn't tell this woman anything helpful," Mustang told them. Hotch's eyes narrowed as he picked up on how carefully he'd worded that answer.

"Is there _any _way this woman would be able to use Captain Hawkeye to gain the knowledge to use flame alchemy?" Hotch pressed.

Mustang eyed the group for a moment, assessing them and they could see the way he was weighing his answer. Finally, he sighed and straightened up fully, meeting each of their eyes. They could all see the seriousness in his gaze and posture. "What I tell you does _not_ find its way into the official reports. You do _not_ write it down anywhere, and you do not tell _anyone_. Havoc, that means the rest of the team does not find out about this. Not even Führer Grumman. I want your word on this." All four of them nodded in agreement. "Even though he was obsessed with protecting his research, he didn't want everything that he had worked to create to be lost with his death. After he destroyed all of his notes, but before he died, Master Hawkeye tattooed the secrets to flame alchemy onto Captain Hawkeye's back so that she could give someone else the secrets if she trusted that person absolutely. That's how I learned flame alchemy. Captain Hawkeye showed me the tattoo, and I studied it."

Edward looked appalled and disgusted, while Havoc, Hotch, and Morgan looked shocked by the revelation.

"So, this woman likely thinks that Captain Hawkeye knows the secrets of flame alchemy because of her relationship with her father and with you. I'd be willing to hazard a guess from your words that the fact that Captain Hawkeye has that tattoo is not common knowledge?" Hotch asked, merely needing the confirmation.

"Only Master Hawkeye, Captain Hawkeye, and I knew about it before now," Mustang confirmed. "It also isn't common knowledge that Master Hawkeye destroyed all of his personal journals and research notes before his death. I would believe it's safe to assume that this woman thinks that – as his daughter – Captain Hawkeye would have inherited all of that information and has it hidden away somewhere."

"If that's the case, she may try and break into Captain Hawkeye's apartment to try and find them. I'll need to organise someone to go over and guard her place. The case files on Chambers' death should be back at the office by now, so I could possibly send Falman and maybe Agent Prentiss over there," Ed was muttering to himself, but what he said caught Mustang's attention.

"Chambers' death? Frank Chambers, the assessor for the State Alchemist program?" he asked, and Edward's eyes flicked up to meet his for the first time since Edward had punched him. The golden eyes were blank, and Mustang felt that like a second punch, only this one to his stomach. In all the years Edward had been under his command, the only time Edward had ever kept his emotions so well hidden was in the immediate aftermath of the cover-up "death" of Lieutenant Ross. The time spent between Ed finding him in that alley and when Mustang had ordered Major Armstrong to kidnap the younger alchemist and take him to Xerxes had been spent with Edward leaving the room any time Mustang walked in, or blankly staring at him whenever he was given orders.

"The woman was yelling things before she knocked Al out, including a claim that she'd killed six people. Since General Armstrong, Al, and Captain Hawkeye were all alive when she said it, we didn't know who she meant. JJ asked if it was possible if there was a sixth victim who had been missed by Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, since it took so long for everyone to connect Bryce, Pardi, and Summers. At first Al and I vetoed that idea since there hadn't been any similar deaths before Bryce, but then I remembered Chambers," Ed explained in a flat tone. "When I thought about it, I realised he fit the victim profile, and I'm pretty sure that Lieutenant Colonel Granger hasn't managed to solve the case yet. We're going to go over the case files to see if Chambers could be the true first victim. If so, it could mean that the woman left behind some evidence that could lead to us figuring out who she is."

"Why don't you and Lieutenant Havoc head over to the office and see if those files are there?" Morgan suggested and Ed blinked at him owlishly. "Reid and Sheska could use the help of an alchemist in going over them, and Hotch and I still need to ask Mustang a couple of questions."

"You guys can't go anywhere without a military escort though," Ed said, obviously reluctant about leaving them, but eager to get to the case files and – if Mustang wasn't wrong about the significance of the quick glance Ed gave him – away from his commanding officer. Mustang felt a stab of guilt in his heart that was far more painful than the throbbing in his jaw.

"How about you just wait at the sign-in desk then? We shouldn't be too long and we do need to ask more about the tattoo, which I imagine Mustang will be more comfortable talking about without you or Lieutenant Havoc here to hear it," Hotch suggested instead. Ed narrowed his eyes at the two BAU agents before he nodded.

"Fine. Sergeant Munroe?" The guard came over to the cell immediately. "Havoc and I are going to wait at the sign-in desk. These two still have a few more questions for General Mustang," Ed told him and Munroe nodded, unlocking the cell door.

"Will you be alright heading out there by yourselves, sir?" Munroe asked, obviously hesitant to leave the two agents alone with Mustang, as the regulations stated that he shouldn't leave someone in a holding cell with an accused criminal without a guard present, but he also didn't want to disrespect Ed by not offering to escort him.

"We'll be fine, Sergeant. Come on, Havoc. Let's leave them to do their thing," Ed said, looking back at the lieutenant and the agents. Havoc followed Ed out of the cell, both of them nodding to the sergeant who was quick to close the door behind them and lock it again with a resounding _click_.

"Ed…" Mustang said, and he firmly believed that it was only because he used the teen's first name rather than his title that caused him to stop.

"I'll get Captain Hawkeye back and we'll get you out of there. Don't worry," Ed said, meeting his eyes again. Mustang saw the resolution, determination, and regret in his eyes and he knew that his subordinate had taken his earlier accusations to heart. Before he could say anything, to try and get Ed to see that he wasn't mad at him, didn't blame him, and was so sorry for what he said – that he'd never meant any of it – Edward and Havoc disappeared from his sight. He barely noticed that Havoc hadn't looked at him when he left.

* * *

"You alright, Chief?" Havoc asked quietly once they were out of eye-and-earshot of the cell. Havoc was hovering – and he knew it – behind Ed, barely leaving enough room between the two of them so that they could walk without stepping on each other.

"Mm-hmm," Ed hummed, not looking at Havoc. He was replaying Mustang's accusations over and over in his head. No matter how hard he tried to focus on something else, Mustang's voice just kept replaying everything that he'd said before Edward had punched him. That punch had felt good and Ed would readily admit it. His knuckles and wrist still smarted slightly from landing the blow, and Ed knew he'd never regret it. He'd barely stopped himself from using his automail to punch his commander. What Mustang had said, particularly about Hughes, had struck deep and Ed had never wanted the Lions or his brother more so than in that moment. He hated how vulnerable that confrontation had left him feeling.

"Chief?" Havoc said, sounding uncharacteristically soft and serious. Ed glanced up at him just as Havoc grabbed him by the flesh arm and made him stop walking. "You know what the General said wasn't true. It was just him lashing out because he was hurt and even more emotionally constipated than your brother claims you are." That earned him a half-chuckle from Ed and Havoc counted it as a win. "It's not your fault that Alphonse got hurt and that Hawkeye was kidnapped and if you try and blame yourself than you have to blame all of us as well. We all knew the same things you did. We may not be a genius like you," Havoc ruffled Ed's hair and got a half-hearted protest for his troubles, "but we're still pretty smart and none of us thought that Hawkeye might be a target, since this killer has been targeting the General all along."

Ed thought about Havoc's words and straightened up slightly, as if the guilt he'd been feeling had been physically weighing him down. He still would never apologise for striking Mustang – the bastard had deserved it this time – but Havoc had a point. They'd never expected Hawkeye to be a target.

Havoc could see his words were having some sort of effect on the blonde and decided to address the final elephant in the room while he could. "That goes for what he said about Hughes, as well." He felt the way Ed's shoulder stiffened under his arm. "Maes Hughes wasn't killed because of you, Ed. You know this," Havoc told him and Ed let out a shaky breath.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks Havoc." Ed smiled up at him and Havoc grinned back before wrapping an arm completely around Ed's shoulders and walking him forward once more.

* * *

There was silence between Mustang and the agents while they waited for Edward and Havoc to put enough distance between them so that they wouldn't accidentally overhear the conversation. Hotch still had his completely neutral mask in place – which rivaled Mustang's when he was at his most formal – and Morgan had managed to quell his anger enough that it wasn't pouring out of his very being.

"What more do you need to know?" Mustang asked when he realised it would be up to him to get this conversation going.

"Where on Captain Hawkeye's back is this tattoo positioned?" Hotch asked, surprising Mustang enough that he visibly reacted. He had not actually expected this conversation to have anything to do with Hawkeye's tattoo and everything to do with Edward. It had been evident by the end of their second inter-dimensional trip that the BAU had all but adopted the teen. He was certain the NCIS team had been ready to adopt him after knowing him for just a day.

"It's centered on her back, between her shoulder blades, and extends all the way down to the small of her back," Mustang told them.

"If this woman saw the tattoo, would she be able to learn the secrets it holds? Or is it encrypted enough that it would take her a while to decipher it?" Hotch asked, his voice still professional, while Morgan stood silently next to him, arms crossed over his chest.

"If it was still whole, I wouldn't be able to answer that with any accuracy. The answer would depend solely on the alchemist studying the tattoo. Someone like Fullmetal or Alphonse could have it figured out in a few days, maybe a week at the most. For other alchemists it could take months, years, or even decades. Some could study it every single hour of every single day for the rest of their lives and not come close to figuring it out."

"'If it was still whole'?" Hotch repeated.

Mustang sighed and nodded. "I'm sure you've learned the truth about the Ishvalan Civil War by now…as well as my part in it as a State Alchemist." When Hotch and Morgan both nodded stiffly, he continued, staring down at his bound hands. "Using the flame alchemy I learned from studying the tattoo, I killed hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people over the course of the year I was stationed on the front lines. The rest of the country had been led to believe that the Ishvalans were dissidents and religious zealots, determined to destabilise our country's government. For my actions on the battlefield, I earned the nickname "Hero of Ishval" … but it was a title I never wanted. Captain Hawkeye, on the other hand, was a sniper and her accuracy with a rifle earned her the nickname "The Hawk's Eye". But both of us ruined so many lives…"

"Rossi mentioned something about that," Hotch said. "Captain Hawkeye told him about your plan to have all those who fought in Ishval tried for war crimes, but that Führer Grumman arranged pardons for many of you. What does that have to do with the tattoo?"

"Years ago, just after the war ended and we were all sent home, Captain Hawkeye came to me and asked me to help her destroy the last remnants of her father's research notes. When I asked her why, she told me that she wanted to be freed of her father's burden; that she wanted to ensure that there would never again be a flame alchemist because of what she witnessed me doing during the war. Despite the problems that she had with her father, it hurt her to see his life's work used to kill the Ishvalans – to hurt or kill anyone for that matter. She didn't want there to ever again be a chance for someone else to use flame alchemy in such a way, and I agreed. I knew that what I'd done in Ishval was horrific, and there's rarely a day that goes by where I wish I had never learned flame alchemy."

Mustang took a deep breath. "I burned a portion of the tattoo badly enough that the ink below was destroyed and defaced Captain Hawkeye's back in doing so," he told them, refusing to show any of the guilt he still felt over causing her that much pain. He still remembered the scent of burning flesh, Hawkeye's writhing, sweat-soaked back, and her bit off, pained screams like it had happened yesterday. "Even if Hawkeye told her about the tattoo or she somehow saw it, she wouldn't be able to learn anything from it." He saw the disbelief and shock on their faces but he didn't say anything more to defend his and Hawkeye's decision.

"If this woman doesn't know that your alchemy teacher destroyed all of his research, would Captain Hawkeye tell her that, or would she try to send the woman somewhere where we could ambush her and catch her?" Hotch asked.

"She'd tell her that the notes were completely destroyed," Mustang answered immediately, not even having to think about the answer. "If this woman truly was an apprentice of Master Hawkeye as I was, she would know the man almost as well as Hawkeye and I did. He wouldn't leave his notes unprotected, and his house was sold when he died. Hawkeye would _never_ risk civilians by telling her the notes are at my house or her apartment, and she'd never take the risk that this woman would see through her suggestions of a warehouse or an abandoned or isolated house. Hawkeye would rather the woman take any anger and frustration out on her, rather than risking someone else being put into a position where the woman could use that person to coerce her to cooperate. She also would never voluntarily tell her about the tattoo, if that was your next question."

"It was," Hotch admitted before he looked over at Morgan, who shook his head in answer. "That's all the questions we have on the subject of Captain Hawkeye's tattoo," Hotch said.

"However, that's not the end of our talk," Morgan told him, speaking for the first time in a while. Mustang knew this would be the conversation he'd originally been expecting when Hotch had asked Ed and Havoc to step outside.

"I know what you're going to say, and I agree completely," Mustang told them as he finally took a seat on the edge of his cot and looked at his bound hands again. "I screwed up. I don't even know why I said any of that to him, because I certainly didn't mean a word of it." He sighed for what seemed like the dozenth time this evening. "I've probably just destroyed any of the trust I've earned from Fullmetal and set our relationship back beyond square one. Havoc certainly isn't going to forgive me anytime soon for what I said and neither will the rest of my team once Havoc's told them what happened as I'm positive that he'll do just that so that Fullmetal can't play it off as nothing."

"We've trained for years and gained immense amounts of experience in reading people's behaviour. Not just the behaviour of a criminal but also the behaviour of a victim, bystander, friend or enemy so that we can tell whether we're being told the truth and to pick up clues on why they might be lying to us. We know you didn't mean a word of what you said," Hotch told him, voice turning slightly understanding and a touch warmer. "Even Edward will know you didn't mean what you said when he stops to think about it logically and he's past the first hurt. However, you used your knowledge of him, your relationship with him, to strike at every weakness you could when you lashed out and those aren't wounds that are going to heal soon. You knew he would blame himself for Alphonse being hospitalized and Hawkeye being kidnapped and you knew about the guilt he felt over your best friend's murder and you made sure you hit each of those points with a few well-worded sentences." Hotch likely had more to say but Mustang interrupted him.

"I know what I did and I regret every single word I said! You have no idea how badly I wish I could take every horrible thing I said to him back!" Mustang exclaimed, glaring at them, daring them to try and disagree.

"We know. We saw what your body language and demeanor said after Edward punched you and your head cleared enough to realise what you'd done," Hotch reminded him. Mustang calmed down a little at that.

"We just wanted to make sure that you realised how badly you fucked up," Morgan told him bluntly. "You are going to have one hell of a time trying to make this up to him. Not to mention, his brother and your team once they find out because you're absolutely right; Havoc is going to tell them what happened – and if he doesn't, we will – because Ed sure as shit won't." Mustang wasn't surprised at how well they already knew his subordinates.

"Keep an eye on him. Without his brother or Captain Hawkeye there, he'll work himself to exhaustion, especially after what I said," Mustang sighed regretfully as he hung his head for a moment before meeting their eyes again. "You said so yourself; he logically knows I didn't mean what I said but he's still going to ignore his logical mind and work himself to the bone in some sacrificial way to keep his word to me. I don't want him to get himself hurt trying to prove himself to me because of what I said," Mustang was damn-near begging them, and he couldn't care less at the moment.

"We'll do our best," Hotch swore.

"Thank you, Agent Hotchner," Mustang said softly.

"In the meantime, if you get any suspicious letters or notes or you think of anything that can help us figure out who this woman is, any off-hand comment your teacher might have made, you let us know immediately," Hotch ordered and Mustang nodded in compliance.

"We'll keep you in the loop as much as we can," Morgan promised, any residual iciness gone from his attitude in the wake of Mustang's obvious regret and guilt. Hotch walked over to the cell's door and signaled to Munroe, who walked over immediately.

"We'll talk with you when we have something more," Hotch told him as he and Morgan left the cell, moving out of the way so Munroe could lock the door as quickly as possible. "And we'll keep an eye on him," Hotch said, not needing to name who he meant.

"Thank you," Mustang said sincerely and watched as Munroe escorted Hotch and Morgan away.

He moved himself further up his bed so he could sit on it and lean up against the wall, the back of his head thudding gently onto the smooth concrete. His jaw was now simply aching constantly and Mustang knew that if he looked in a mirror that he would see the beginnings of an impressive bruise there. He hated the fact that he was stuck in this cell while one of his oldest and most trusted friends was somewhere alone and with a killer who has proven she'd stop at nothing to get what she wanted. He felt the restless and insistent urge to get up, find some way to break out and go look for her and he had to constantly remind himself that he couldn't. He was powerless to help Hawkeye and he knew it.

While half of his mind was stuck on Hawkeye and the torturous thoughts of not knowing what was happening to her and the dark corner of his mind conjuring images of things the killer could be doing to her, the other half was stuck on the look on Ed's face as Mustang had snarled those horrible words at him. That heart-wrenching look of shock, hurt and betrayal would stay with him forever and Mustang knew it was the least he deserved.

Since he couldn't go anywhere or do anything to help his team or Hawkeye, he decided he would be spending however long he would remain in this cell trying to figure out a way he could start rebuilding the trust and respect he'd lost with Edward, Alphonse, his team and the BAU agents. He would start with an apology even though he knew that the apology would not be an instant fix of what he'd broken but it would be a start.

* * *

Munroe was following behind the two agents but the three didn't exchange words as the sergeant walked them back to the sign-in desk. Havoc and Ed were sitting in the waiting chairs with Havoc sitting on Ed's left, arm draped over his flesh shoulder. Ed, for all intents and purposes, looked resigned and annoyed to being used like a leaning post but Hotch and Morgan could see him leaning into the touch ever so slightly. The two stood once they noticed the BAU agents and their escort.

"All done?" Ed asked and Hotch nodded, meeting the two Amestrians at the sign-in desk after a quick 'thank-you' to Munroe for escorting them.

"Yup. Talked about what we needed to talk about," Morgan told him, smirking at Ed's suspicious look as he reclaimed his weapon. He knew the blond knew that discussing Hawkeye's tattoo hadn't been the real reason they wanted him and Havoc to leave the cell. He also knew the blond wouldn't say anything because it would involve him acknowledging that what Mustang had said hurt far more than he was willing to admit.

"Alright. Let's head back to the office then. The case files should definitely be there by now," Ed told them, waving goodbye to the soldier manning the desk, startling the soldier enough that he didn't remember that he should've saluted Ed until after the blond and his group were already walking past the guard at the front entrance.

"Did Mustang tell you anything we should know?" Ed asked as they walked down the familiar path to the office.

"Nothing you need to worry your genius mind over, blondie," Morgan assured him, ruffling Ed's hair and laughing at Ed's growl as he threw his arm around his shoulder and squeezed him into his side for a brief hug before releasing Ed so he could fix his mussed-up hair so it didn't cover his eyes. Ed glared at him through his blonde bangs before looking away from Morgan and returning to the chatter that Havoc had started up but he couldn't stop the small, happy smile that formed from the subtle shows of solidarity and affection he just wasn't used to from anyone who wasn't his family.

* * *

When Ed and the others entered the office, Ed not only saw the promised case files sitting on the desk but realised that Lieutenant-Colonel Granger was still in the office, sitting at one of the desks and talking with Falman. She immediately got to her feet and offered her hand to the newcomers.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Elric," she greeted, shaking his hand before turning to the others and introducing herself to them. Once she was done shaking hands and releasing Havoc from his salute, she turned back to Ed. "I heard about your brother and Captain Hawkeye. As Führer Grumman requested, I've brought every scrap of information, evidence, and test result. This is everything we've collected on this case in the last four months. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything from me or my team," she offered and Ed gave her a thankful smile.

"Thank you for your offer. Would you be able to sit down with Lieutenant Havoc and Miss Prentiss to discuss your investigation tonight?" Ed asked and Granger nodded amicably.

"I'm waiting for a report to come in tonight but I'll be happy to talk with them as long as they are willing to speak in my office?" she asked, looking at Havoc and Prentiss.

"That's alright with us," Havoc said. Prentiss nodded her own agreement to the plans.

"Excellent. If the two of you will follow me, we'll head there now. Good luck, Lieutenant-Colonel Elric," Granger said as Havoc and Prentiss moved to join her.

"We'll be back once we're finished speaking with Lieutenant-Colonel Granger," Prentiss assured Ed, who just nodded as the three of them left the office.

"How's Alphonse?" Sheska asked the moment the door shut and Ed nodded as he sat down in his chair.

"He'll be fine. Minor wounds, for the most part. His head wound was as minor as a head wound can be. Doctor Evans wants to keep him in the hospital until his stitches are out though," Ed told them and saw a lot of relieved expressions.

"That's good to hear," Sheska said with a smile that Ed returned.

"Yeah," Ed said before straightening and looking at the strewn papers. "How's the reading going?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Granger only dropped the files off a few minutes ago so we haven't really started," Fuery told him apologetically. "She did mention that there were a lot of people they'd interviewed in the original investigation. Apparently, General Mustang's sponsored applicant wasn't the only one turned down for reasons that shouldn't have mattered under Fuhrer Grumman's new regulations."

Ed groaned in annoyance. "At least we'll be able to cut down those interviews to just focus on women." he said, trying to be the optimist that Al forever claimed he wasn't. The lack of surprise from those who hadn't been with him in Grumman's office told him that they had been told by those who went straight to the office rather than the holding cells what they'd discovered.

"I think that's probably a good place to start," Rossi agreed. "Female serial killers are more likely to work alone than find a partner, unless they happen to be the submissive half of a pairing, but this killer is too organised and focused to fit the profile of a killing team."

"I've already read through the initial report and autopsy report but I did notice something that seemed different to the other murders," Reid said, effectively gaining their attention.

"Would you like to share with the class, pretty boy?" Morgan teased, causing Reid to glare at him.

"I was about to, if you hadn't interrupted me," Reid sniffed at him before continuing. "The autopsy reports show that Frank Chambers was beaten to death. There was no carbon monoxide discovered in his blood to indicate he was still breathing when he was set on fire and the fire was less concentrated on him than it was on the other victims." Ed frowned at that last part.

"What do you mean by 'less concentrated'?" Ed asked as he started pulling the files towards himself to read through.

"Well, I noticed that the accelerant used on the original five victims was poured over their top half. That's where the majority of the most severe burns were concentrated. Their lower halves suffered less severe burns because the fire wasn't fed by the accelerant and burned out when it ran out of fuel. But Frank Chambers suffered major burns to the majority of his body. I think that the unsub suffered a psychotic break over something and Chambers was the unfortunate person she took her anger out on."

Ed deflated for a moment. "So, it's likely Chambers was just a random victim and it was a coincidence he and Mustang were fighting at the time?"

Surprisingly, Reid shook his head. "You're thinking that there won't be a connection between Chambers and the unsub, right?" Reid asked and Ed nodded. "I'd be surprised if that were the case," Reid said honestly. "Contrary to what most people believe about those suffering from a psychotic break, when someone this organised suffers a mental break like this, they don't lash out at the first person they come across; they're far more likely to lash out at the first person with whom they have a problem with that they come across, because they're controlled enough and obsessive enough to not be provoked by random people or random events. It's different when the provocation comes from someone they already have a bad history with though. The amount of overkill in this murder also tells us that the victim and the unsub knew each other and that the unsub felt slighted by the victim," Reid explained and Ed sighed in relief. At least that was one thing in their favour.

"So why would the unsub kill Chambers in such a violent manner?" Falman asked. "She didn't do that to the others. Even Henley and Andrews didn't die as violently and they were the ones who fought back."

"Like I said, she could have suffered a mental break. Something happened that night that caused her such anger that she snapped and Chambers was unfortunate enough to have slighted her in some way and be the first person she held a grudge against that she came across while she was in that state of mind." Reid told them. "Was there anything that you can think of that might have happened the day Chambers was found or the night before?" Reid asked and Ed's eyes flicked to the date the report said Chambers died.

"Yeah, Brigadier General Bastard's promotion was announced the same afternoon that Doctor Knox concluded that he had actually died. I think it was made public on the evening news that night," Ed told them.

"It makes sense that that could trigger her," JJ said. "Even if Captain Hawkeye's capture was her endgame, the level of thought, detail and patience that went into these murders and attacks shows that the unsub also had a personal reason for putting Mustang in jail and it wasn't just so she would be able to kidnap Hawkeye without the threat of Mustang searching for her."

"Did Mustang give you any clue about why this woman would want to kidnap Hawkeye?" Rossi asked.

"Yes, actually. We believe that it's likely this woman was once an apprentice, likely a failed one, of Mustang's alchemy teacher who was also Hawkeye's father," Hotch told them. "Hawkeye's father developed fire alchemy and Mustang told us that he absolutely refused to teach anyone the art unless he thought they were worthy enough. He even refused to teach Mustang flame alchemy and shortly before his death, Master Hawkeye destroyed all of his notes. From what he told us, I don't think it was well-known to those who knew who taught Mustang that Mustang wasn't actually taught flame alchemy by his teacher," Hotch divulged.

"So how did he learn it then?" Fuery asked innocently.

"He left the last remnants of his research in Captain Hawkeye's possession," Morgan replied. "She gave them to Mustang before he became a State Alchemist, but after the Ishval Civil War, she asked him to destroy the research so that there wouldn't ever again be another flame alchemist."

It was the truth, just not the entire truth, Ed mused as he sorted through the files in front of him. He had to give Lieutenant Colonel Granger credit – she and her team had done an admirable job of investigating the case from every angle.

"Al did say that the woman claimed that Mustang had stolen something from her," Reid pondered. "It's possible that if this woman was turned away by Master Hawkeye before she could learn fire alchemy and then she learned about Mustang's status as a flame alchemist, she could have been jealous and angry that he had knowledge that she had been denied. She could believe that Mustang somehow tricked her former teacher into sharing the secrets of flame alchemy with him," Reid told them.

"So, all of this was because she thought her and Mustang's teacher taught him flame alchemy and not her?" Ed asked with disbelief evident in his voice.

"It could be," Rossi said. "We won't know for certain until we find evidence to support this theory or she tells us herself. We don't know for certain that this woman was an ex-apprentice of Hawkeye's father. Mustang has said that it's not common knowledge who he trained under so it's possible that Hawkeye was kidnapped because she's the closest to Mustang and therefore most likely the one Mustang would have divulged the secrets of flame alchemy to. You said so yourself that you've been kidnapped numerous times because people thought that as an alchemist working under Mustang, he shared the knowledge for using flame alchemy with you. It could be possible that she thought that Hawkeye was her safest bet since it is well-known that you don't know anything about fire alchemy."

"But you don't think so," Ed said, eyeing the BAU knowingly.

"No. This woman was too personally invested in making certain that Mustang was not only the only suspect in these murders but made it so the Führer – someone who has openly stated they do _not_ believe Mustang is guilty – had no choice but to issue an arrest warrant for him. To go to the lengths she did to make sure he would be arrested and likely found guilty tells us that she is getting revenge on something Mustang has personally done to her, whether he knows what he did or not," Morgan explained. "If she simply wanted Mustang out of the way, I doubt she would've gone to so much trouble as to space out the murders and choose the victims she did. I believe even the generals would've been hard-pressed to deny that Mustang wasn't the kind of person to go on a random killing spree for no reason."

"Despite the fact that Mustang and Chambers did have an altercation earlier that was still unresolved, I believe his death says more about the killer than the killer's plan," Reid butted in. "Chambers and Mustang's fight was well-known, according to Granger's notes, but it was also well-known that they were using legal means to resolve it. Unlike the situation with Henley, it wasn't well-known that you and Mustang were about to bring charges against her so the public and the rest of the military were under the impression that your investigation into her hadn't provided the results you wanted."

"So, the fact that Chambers was killed out of anger and that his and Mustang's issues with each other were being dealt with publicly tells you that Chambers was killed because of a problem he had with the unsub and not just because he had an issue with Mustang?" Ed asked.

"Actually, it would be more accurate to say that Mustang didn't factor into Chambers' death for any reason except news of his promotion was the trigger. I'd be willing to bet that Chambers still would've been killed even if he and Mustang didn't have that argument," Reid told him and Ed sighed a little.

JJ nodded in agreement. "She may have planned to kill Chambers all along, but her original plan might have been to save him for further along, until she suffered that psychotic break, since she moved progressively higher through the ranks."

"Okay so I guess the first thing we should do is re-interview all the women that Granger interviewed. If we can somehow narrow it down to women who were likely to have a grudge against him, we should interview them first," Ed said, looking at the folders curiously. "No chance that Granger did us a favour and created a list of people who held grudges against Chambers?" Ed asked jokingly but to his surprise, JJ nodded.

"Actually, Chambers did it for us. He was very meticulous in his record keeping," she told them. "Granger told us that he kept notebooks filled with the names and details of any applicant for the State Alchemy program whose application he looked at as well as the reasons for his denial if he did deny them a spot in the military. He also kept records of any threats or problems he had with anyone. His last entry was actually his dealings with Mustang," JJ told them as she dug through a box and held up a notebook with a grin. Ed wasn't the only one who looked happy with that news.

"How many notebooks are there?" Ed asked and JJ grimaced slightly.

"There are dozens of notebooks that started from his early years in the military. The bulk majority of his notebooks contain information about the State Alchemist hopefuls," JJ said. "Unfortunately, he's assessed hundreds of applicants but we can rule out everyone in the last year at least, I believe."

Hotch nodded in agreement. "Definitely. Our unsub likely wouldn't have started planning this before Promised Day. This kind of meticulous planning was fueled by years of hate."

"Why would she choose now to do all of this? If she's spent years hating Mustang – and I don't blame her there – why didn't she do anything about him when he had less sway with the military?" Ed asked, face pinched in confusion.

"It's possible she was waiting for something significant to happen in her life first. Some self-imposed deadline, if you will," Rossi said and Fuery's face lit up in understanding.

"Like when I tell myself I can have a coffee once I've finished a certain amount of reports?" he asked and JJ nodded.

"Exactly like that," JJ said with a smile. "It's also possible that something else prevented her being able to enact on her revenge like an injury or simply not being in the same area as Mustang. If your military is anything like ours, transfers to different postings are frequent and common. It's unlikely that she was injured enough for it to take years before she was able to do all of this. Any injury that debilitating would be permanent, like paralysis, or would have some kind of lasting damage to the nerves or muscles that Alphonse would've noticed during his fight," JJ told them.

"So, this deadline passing was like the first trigger?" Ed asked, trying to see if he'd gotten it right.

"You could say that," Rossi agreed. "Normally triggers aren't planned but yes, you could say she used achieving her goal as the first trigger. Almost like she was trying to prove something to herself."

"Okay. How do you want to proceed with this case?" Ed asked, looking at Hotch.

"What year did Mustang join the State Alchemists?" the BAU leader asked.

Ed thought about it for a moment. "I think he's been with the military since 1905," he said slowly, "but I know he didn't become a State Alchemist right after graduation. He would have needed at least a couple of months to study and master the flame alchemy, or he wouldn't have had enough control over it to impress Führer Bradley and earn his certification. Maybe…1906?"

"Then I want you and Sheska reading the notebooks," Hotch told Ed immediately. "For now, focus on any applicants from the year he became a State Alchemist up until the year before the Promised Day. Concentrate on the women to start with. If we don't have any viable candidates from that first pass, we'll start working our way further back. It's possible that this woman applied to be a State Alchemist some time ago, but her anger and jealousy wasn't something she was consciously aware of until after Mustang earned the title of Flame Alchemist and his abilities became well known in the military. Once Reid has read through the case files with JJ and Falman, he can join you two. Rossi, you and I are going to read through the interviews already conducted and recorded by Granger. Fuery, I'd appreciate it if you would take Morgan to the labs tomorrow and see how the tests are going. Morgan, I need you to ask them about the tests they did for this case as well. Breda, for the moment, if you could pull Chambers' threat file, I want you looking to see if he received any recent threats that seem genuinely serious and not just the initial angry rants that someone who had just been rejected might have sent," Hotch ordered and received nods.

"Don't forget you lot need to stay on top of your paperwork. Miss Riza won't accept her being kidnapped as the reason for us getting behind on it and she _will_ shoot you," Ed warned the Amestrian men, who blanched and nodded. Ed grinned as he hopped up and moved towards a box, labeled with the appropriate years, pulling it towards Sheska and sitting down once more. He rifled through it and grabbed two notebooks and handed one to Sheska. "Shall we?" He asked as he opened the second notebook he held and settled down in his chair.

* * *

Prentiss and Havoc were happy enough to follow Granger quietly through Central Command. There were a couple of soldiers who they passed, despite how late it was getting, who recognised Prentiss from seeing her around the base while she was interviewing people. It was obvious they were a little bit curious about why they were with Granger when she hadn't been involved in the original investigation and Brookes had never interviewed her during his investigation but they evidently decided to just stay curious rather than ask.

"Most of my team has gone home for the night but my second-in-command, Lieutenant Snyder, should still be here," Granger explained as she stopped at a door, opened it and allowed them inside.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Granger," the sole occupant of the office called out in a greeting as he stood with a salute.

"Snyder." Granger gave her Lieutenant a smile and nod, indicating he could drop his salute. "I don't know if you've had the pleasure of meeting them before but this is First Lieutenant Havoc and Miss Emily Prentiss, one of the specialist consultants hired by General Mustang's defense attorney," Granger introduced them and Snyder nodded as he shook their hands.

"Yes, I think I've seen you around the last couple of days while you were on your way to interviews," Snyder said with a grin and Prentiss barely held back her groan at the reminder. Havoc looked like he was struggling not to remember either while Granger looked a tiny bit sympathetic.

"We'll be in my office, Lieutenant. Please let me know immediately when that report turns up," Granger instructed and Snyder nodded.

A few moments later, they were walking into Granger's office. Unlike Mustang's inner office, Granger's didn't have bookshelves lined with alchemic texts. Rather, she had a few shelves lined with case files and a few books that Prentiss thought might relate to forensic science or something similar. There were plenty of loose manila files on Granger's desk, stacked in some sort of order. Granger walked behind her desk and indicated for the two of them to sit down in the leather armchairs which was something else her office didn't have in common with Mustang's office; he had couches, not armchairs.

"Thank you for agreeing to take the time to allow us to interview you about your investigation into Frank Chambers' death, Lieutenant-Colonel Granger," Prentiss said as she took her seat, pulling her notepad and a pencil out and getting ready to take notes.

"My pleasure. What would you like to know?" she asked, leaning back in her chair slightly as she watched them.

"The first thing I'd like to know is whether you ever established a prime suspect?" Prentiss asked and Granger sighed a little.

"We never identified anyone who we would've considered a prime suspect. There were several people who were suspects but we ruled them out from lack of evidence, them having alibis or other such reasons. Frankly, if I hadn't requested that General Mustang join me at the scene and he hadn't recused himself and Lieutenant-Colonel Elric from the case, I would've considered him my prime suspect. At least until I interviewed him," Granger told them.

"Why wouldn't he have been considered a suspect after the interview?" Prentiss asked.

"Well, he had an alibi. He was celebrating his promotion with his team that night, in a part of town quite a considerable distance from the crime scene and no one told us of him disappearing for a significant amount of time that would've allowed him to murder Chambers and then rejoin the celebration," Granger said, giving Havoc a look that encouraged him in corroborating what Granger said.

"Most of the team – except for the Chief and Alphonse, that is – went out for drinks to celebrate on that Friday night. We were out pretty late, but we spent all day Saturday and Sunday moving our office from the old one to the new one. Then the team was invited to Gracia Hughes' home for a home-cooked dinner in celebration of Mustang's promotion. The chief put on a big show of being annoyed by it," Havoc told Prentiss.

"Gracia Hughes is the lady Edward and Alphonse live with, yes?" Prentiss asked, just for clarification and Havoc nodded. "All right. I imagine you created a list or something of the like that listed those suspects you mentioned?" Prentiss asked and Granger nodded.

"Yes. It's in one of the newer boxes," Granger said and Prentiss marked that. If they wanted to find Hawkeye quickly, identifying the suspect was number one priority in doing that and a list of those the original investigator found most suspect would definitely help them.

"Excellent," Prentiss said before moving on. "Did your investigation uncover any reason behind why Chambers would turn away so many applicants? I saw the number of notebooks you handed over with the case files and one of my colleagues told us that most of them contained the details and reasons behind whether an applicant was approved or rejected," Prentiss questioned and Granger nodded.

"When we heard about Chambers' habit of turning away applicants for insignificant reasons, we looked deeper and we uncovered a pattern," Granger told them. "It seemed that Chambers was under the impression that any alchemist whose specialty was solely as an earth alchemist was turned down if they also had something like a criminal history or an injury that just barely severe enough to warrant denial, like a broken limb. If a State Alchemist hopeful also happened to be recommended by a general Chambers wasn't friendly with – or at least tolerated – their application would be denied for some flimsy reason. He was also more likely to deny a position to women than men, even if the women were equally as qualified as the men." It was obvious Granger hadn't been impressed with Chambers' reasoning.

"Why earth alchemists?" Prentiss asked and Granger shrugged slightly.

"We never really found out but we believe it was because earth alchemy is one of the more common alchemies and Chambers didn't believe it was enough to warrant an applicant's approval. He did approve some if they had a clean medical, criminal and psychological history because he didn't have any other reason to turn them away, so long as their alchemy would be beneficial to the military," Granger told them.

"We've heard that there had been a change in the rules governing why an applicant couldn't be approved for the State Alchemy program under Führer Grumman's ruling and that applicants had been rejected by Chambers for things that shouldn't have held merit under these new rules. Would you explain the changes?" Prentiss asked.

"There were several rule changes but I'll explain the more significant ones," Granger said. "Obviously, one of these changes was to the rules about criminal histories. Under the late Führer Bradley's reign, no alchemist with any criminal history, no matter how minor, could be approved for the State Alchemy program. Führer Grumman's new rule is laxer in allowing those with a criminal history. Obviously someone who has a laundry list of serious crimes will be refused but someone with a minor charge or misdemeanor on their record shouldn't – under Grumman's new rule – be automatically rejected."

"Another new rule is that if an applicant applies to be a field alchemist like Lieutenant-Colonel Elric, but for some reason fails the physical required or their alchemy wouldn't be suited to a field role, they would be offered a research role related to their chosen specialty whereas under Führer Bradley's rule, they would be rejected immediately," Granger went on to say. "While technically forbidden under Führer Bradley's rule, discrimination was something that still happened amongst the State Alchemy assessors however assessors didn't _have_ to provide a reason for their rejection of an applicant, even if it was highly encouraged they did so. Under Führer Grumman's new rule, legitimate reasons for rejection must be given and any reason that was considered discriminatory would result in disciplinary action taken against the assessor," Granger informed them.

"Mustang informed us that a State Alchemist hopeful he'd personally recommended was turned down by Chambers for a reason that Führer Grumman's new rules should have prevented. Am I correct in assuming this applicant wasn't the only one rejected for a reason with similar holding?" Prentiss asked and Granger nodded. "Did your investigation show what would've happened to Chambers if Mustang had been able to go forward with his allegations?"

"He would've been dishonorably discharged should Mustang's allegations had been found true. Some of those we interviewed also indicated that they too would've given evidence against Chambers that would've supported Mustang's claims. If he hadn't been discharged, I imagine that he would've been encouraged to retire early, at the very least, with severely reduced benefits," Granger told them, sounding a little annoyed that that didn't get to happen.

"Were there any threats made against Chambers that stood out for you more than others? Maybe someone repeatedly threatened him or a threat seemed like it was more than empty words?" Prentiss asked, moving the interview along a little.

"Oh, he had hundreds of threats made against him during his career," Granger told her. "Half of my team spent the first three weeks of our investigation solely locating and interviewing – or arranging for the Investigation Unit in our sister cities to interview someone – everyone mentioned in his notebooks or by his co-workers." Granger had felt bad for her investigators who had been assigned that duty but she didn't envy them. "There were maybe a dozen people who were dedicated enough to send frequent threats for a few years and they were all interviewed but we cleared them because they either had an alibi or weren't in Central at the time. Any threat that seemed to be more than empty words, as you say, was investigated and all of them were cleared as well. Like I said, there wasn't a lack of evidence in this case but there wasn't enough helpful evidence either and that severely limited out ability to find the murderer without an eyewitness, irrefutable evidence, a confession or any combination thereof," Granger told them and Prentiss nodded.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes and my team can sympathise with that," Prentiss said solemnly. "I do have a description of the suspect thanks to Alphonse Elric and a preliminary profile that I can give you if you think you might be able to remember enough of the interviews to be of help?" Granger opened her mouth to reply just as a knock sounded at the door. She casted an apologetic look at Prentiss and Havoc before calling for whoever was on the other side of the door to enter.

"Sorry to interrupt, Lieutenant-Colonel Granger, but that report you were waiting for has arrived," Snyder said, holding a report up in his hand to support his reason for interrupting.

"Wonderful," Granger said as she gestured for him to bring it to her, flipping through it quickly when he did to make sure it was all there. She went to dismiss him when she realised something. "Lieutenant, you conducted some of the initial interviews for the Chambers case, correct?" she asked and Snyder nodded. "If you wouldn't mind, Miss Prentiss has a description and preliminary profile of the person believed to have attacked Alphonse Elric and Captain Hawkeye and who may be behind Frank Chambers' murder and possibly connected to the crimes former General Mustang is accused of that I would like you to hear."

"I'd be happy to help however I can," Snyder told them, moving to stand next to Granger as he spoke.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Snyder," Prentiss said before flicking through her notebook to the appropriate page. "Alphonse Elric has described his attacker as a woman aged in her mid-to-late thirties with shoulder-length brunette hair worn pinned back from her face. She has brown eyes and is of average height but slight build. She is an alchemist believed to work for the military but not as a State Alchemist and she wore two silver cuffs, one on each wrist, with a different array on each. She wore civilian clothing but Alphonse glimpsed a scar on her right shoulder, just before where her neck joins her shoulder. She is left-handed and does have training in hand-to-hand combat but hasn't kept up with her training in recent months. She may have shown open hostility towards General Mustang, Captain Hawkeye or Frank Chambers during your interview and she may have mentioned something about fire alchemy." Prentiss was happy to see that Snyder and Granger were actually paying attention to what she was saying.

"It is also possible that she showed regret during your interview with her regarding Frank Chambers. She wouldn't have shown guilt but she may have shown signs of regret. We believe that she had suffered a mental break that night when she heard some news she had taken badly. Since we also believe she didn't like Chambers and likely had a grudge against him for some reason, she wouldn't have felt guilty over her role in his death but she would've likely regretted it as she may have left evidence behind as she wouldn't have been thinking clearly," Prentiss told them and waited patiently as both Snyder and Granger mulled over what she said and applied it to interviews they had conducted.

"I can give you a list of maybe half a dozen people I can think of off the top of my head but we can also present that information to my two co-workers who had also conducted interviews to see if they remember anyone else when they report for duty tomorrow morning," Snyder offered and Prentiss nodded.

"That would be immensely helpful. I can write the information out for you to give to them in the morning but I will be happy to take the names you can provide now," Prentiss said gratefully. Snyder nodded in agreement and took her offered notepad – flipped to a blank page – and started writing names before offering it to Granger, who then added a few names herself. Once the notepad was handed back to Prentiss, she wrote out the description and preliminary profile on another blank page, tore it out and handed it to Granger.

"Thank you. I'll have Hollien and Bunker look at this first thing in the morning and I'll call Lieutenant-Colonel Elric's office as soon as they've given me any names," Granger told them as she took the proffered paper.

"We would appreciate that," Prentiss told her. "There's only one more thing I wanted to ask you and that was if you received the results to any tests ordered in relation to Frank Chambers murder?"

"We received the results about a month ago. There was evidence an accelerant – ethyl alcohol, I believe – was poured over Frank Chambers and that the killer used a lighter to ignite the alcohol as no evidence of the remains of a match were found. Chambers was intoxicated and there was no evidence he fought back before he was struck multiple times however, we did find a button from a military uniform that was not from Chambers jacket. However, the tests run on it revealed nothing helpful."

Both Prentiss and Havoc sat up a little at the mention of the button. If they could prove that button came from the unsub's uniform, they could prove she killed Chambers, attacked General Armstrong and the five other murders which would be immensely helpful if she didn't confess to her crimes.

"If we have any more questions, Lieutenant-Colonel Granger, would you be willing to speak with us again?" Prentiss asked and Granger nodded.

"Of course. I'd be happy to help in any way I can. You'll be hearing from me in the morning in any case so if you think of any more questions by then, let me know and I'll work around my schedule as much as I can," Granger told them, rising from her seat as Prentiss and Havoc did.

"Thank you very much, Lieutenant-Colonel Granger. We'll speak with you in the morning," Prentiss said as she shook Granger's hand. "Thank you for your help as well, Lieutenant Snyder," she added, shaking the hand offered by the lieutenant.

"You're welcome, Miss Prentiss," Snyder said as Havoc saluted Granger and offered them both his own thanks. "I'll show the two of you out, if you don't need me for anything, Lieutenant-Colonel?" Snyder asked and Granger shook her head.

"No, you can head on home now if you're finished for the day. Thanks for staying behind for me." Granger gave him a smile as dismissed the salute Snyder gave her.

"Have a good night, Lieutenant-Colonel," Snyder said, moving towards the door with Prentiss and Havoc following behind him.

"You too, Snyder. Have a good night, Lieutenant Havoc and Miss Prentiss, and good luck with your search," Granger said as she opened the report Snyder had handed her earlier.

"Thank you, Lieutenant-Colonel," Prentiss said before the three of them disappeared out of the inner office.

Snyder only paused to gather what he needed before he was escorting them out of the office and some of the way to Mustang's office before offering his own good night and well-wishes for their investigation when their paths separated. They thanked him before continuing on their way.

"How much do you want to bet that the chief has already read the entire case file and has a list of suspects for us to interview by the time we get back?" Havoc asked as he lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply.

"My bet's on Edward being one of those assigned to the notebooks," Prentiss told him with a smirk and Havoc laughed.

"Yeah, that would be more likely," Havoc said agreeably.

"So, what happened while you, Hotch, Morgan and Ed were with Mustang? Don't think my team didn't notice something had happened the moment you lot walked in," Prentiss asked, her curiosity she'd been holding onto all this time finally getting the better of her. Havoc's jaw tightened and his eyes grew hard for a moment before he sighed, exhaling some cigarette smoke.

"You can't tell the chief I told you. He'll be embarrassed and annoyed if he found out I did, even though I know he knows I will have told you," Havoc said, inhaling more of his cigarette. Prentiss nodded her agreement in remaining silent and Havoc started talking.

A/N - Here is chapter 18 for all of you wonderful people! As always, I want to express my gratitude to my fantastic beta, PhoenixQueen, who without her hard work, this story wouldn't be as awesome as it is. I'd also like to thank everyone who left a comment or review on the last chapter and I would just like to tell you all how much I appreciated those comments. They literally make my whole day, sometime my whole week, and they give me the motivation to not only see this story through but to also work on future stories so please keep leaving them!

In other news, I have officially finished moving house (YAY!) so I will be working on Spirit Animals once more and will hopefully be posting chapter 19 a little quicker next Sunday. Until next week!


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

It didn't take long for Havoc to fill Prentiss on everything that happened when they went to speak to Mustang. He realised that, despite her anger the previous day over what had happened with the interviews they'd conducted, she was actually quite good at concealing when she was upset. She had practically been shaking with anger over what General Mustang, which was a reasonable response to upsetting news, but by the time they reached the office, she'd managed to school her features so well that Havoc was tempted to ask if she'd taken lessons from Edward.

"Hey, how'd you guys do?" Edward asked as soon as they entered. Havoc was a little surprised that the teen had noticed them walk in since he was in the middle of reading one of the notebooks. In the past he'd seen Edward get so absorbed into something that he was reading that it required Alphonse to physically take the book out of his brother's hands in order to get his attention – something that _only_ the younger Elric could do without getting punched.

"We have some names to investigate, thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Granger and Lieutenant Snyder," Prentiss reported, holding up her notebook. "Unfortunately they weren't the only ones who interviewed people. I left them a copy of the profile, and Granger promised she'd share it with the rest of her team in the morning and call us if they come up with more names."

Edward was mildly disappointed that they didn't get all of the possible names, but he also knew there was no point in arguing about it. He trusted Lieutenant Colonel Granger to be true to her promise, since he knew her reputation as a dedicated officer and professional investigator. "What were the names?" he asked curiously, before shaking his head and stopping Prentiss before she could read them off. "Actually, you guys can search for the notes on their interviews and read through them," he decided, waving his hand towards the boxes before turning back to his notebook, his eyes flicking side to side as he devoured the words at an impressive rate.

Prentiss and Havoc did as they were told, ignoring the smirks of amusement from some of their teammates as they followed Ed's orders. Rossi gave Prentiss a smile as he passed them several thick folders filled with notes from the numerous interviews that Granger's team had conducted. Prentiss eyed the dauntingly thick stack and wondered if it would be possible to bribe Reid into going through the papers instead. Before she could ask, however, she noticed Reid had joined Ed and Sheska in delving through the pile of notebooks. There were far more notebooks than there were interviews, so she resigned herself to her assignment. She split the paperwork into two piles and passed one to Havoc, who had taken her list of names and copied them down on a blank sheet of paper while she was sorting out the files. After that, he settled down at his own desk and started to sort through them, only to be joined a moment later by Breda. The portly man offered his assistance, and they both gave him a grateful smile before passing him several files from each of their stacks. Setting to work, they began going through the files, looking for the names on Prentiss' list.

"What are you and Hotch doing?" Prentiss asked Rossi when she realised the two men were also going over similar looking files.

"We were reading the interview files and trying to narrow them down based on the profile," Rossi explained, glancing up at her as he answered, "but right now we're going through the case files with JJ and Falman since the interviews are your job." Prentiss nodded before turning back to her own work.

The office descended into almost complete silence, broken only by the sounds of papers being moved and the occasional murmured question or comment. Prentiss had made it halfway through her stack of papers and located two names. She'd made the decision to simply find the interviews and put them aside so she could read them once she'd finished going through her stack and it looked like Havoc and Breda were following her lead.

There was a total of nine names on Prentiss' list and by the time she'd reached the bottom of her pile of files, she'd found three of those on the list. Breda had put a single file put aside but he was still working through his pile. Havoc also had three folders in a pile but, like Breda, he was still working through his pile. Despite the fact that they had a list of names, Prentiss knew they would still have to read through all of the other interviews just in case one of them held something of use. She grabbed the first of the three files she'd separated and started reading it in detail.

The woman, Diane Tilly, hadn't had a good relationship with Chambers. According to the interview, their first meeting had basically consisted of Chambers scoffing at the woman when she revealed that she was an accomplished earth alchemist. Chambers had even gone so far as to strongly imply that Tilly had slept with her sponsor in order to be recommend for acceptance into the State Alchemy program since there was no other reason that he could see why an earth alchemist (and a female one at that) would be accepted. Unfortunately, Tilly had a solid alibi in the form of attending her grandmother's funeral the Friday Chambers was suspected to have been killed and helping her family sort through the elderly woman's estate the entire weekend before Chambers body had been discovered.

"Edward do you know if alchemy is more common among men or women?" she asked curiously.

Edward shrugged. "I'm not sure. In theory, if one has alchemic talent, anyone should be able to be able to become an alchemist. Most of the alchemists Al and I have met are male, but our Teacher was female, and there are plenty of female applicants here."

Prentiss nodded in understanding and returned to her files. As she was picking up the third transcript she'd found, the office phone rang, scaring just about everyone in the room. At Ed's nod, Havoc – who was the closest to it – picked up the phone and answered it. "Lieutenant-Colonel Elric's office," Ed flipped the blonde smoker off when the man smirked at him, "Lieutenant Havoc speaking." Havoc's smirk slipped into a frown as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the line. "I'll put him on for you. Hold for a moment," Havoc said before holding the phone out for Ed to take.

"Hello?" Ed said once he'd walked over so he was within reach of the phone.

"_Edward Elric?"_ The female voice on the other end of the phone asked, sounding a little suspicious and wary.

"Speaking," Ed confirmed, ignoring the curious looks he was getting from everyone.

"_My name is Annie. I'm an employee at Madame Christmas' bar. I have some information for you regarding Riza Hawkeye. Would you or someone from your come to the bar tonight to talk with me?"_ Annie asked and Ed felt his heart quicken as the news.

"Yeah, I'll send two people now. They shouldn't be too long," Ed promised her.

"_Thank you. Tell them to come through the side door."_ Annie asked him and he nodded before remembering she couldn't actually see him.

"Okay. Thanks for calling," Ed said before hanging up the phone when Annie said goodbye. Once the phone was hung up, he faced the room. "Do any of you lot," he gestured to the Amestrians in the room, "know how to get to Madame Christmas' bar?" he asked and all of them – minus Sheska – nodded. "Falman, Rossi, can you go and pay a visit to Madame Christmas and talk to Annie? She says she has information about Miss Riza." Both men stood up immediately.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Rossi said as they headed for the door.

"Annie said to use the side entrance," Ed called before they managed to get out the door. Rossi gave him thumbs up before the door shut behind them. "Do you think it's too much to ask that they come back with a name and address for this bitch?" Ed asked and the cynical scoffs were as good as any verbal answer.

* * *

Falman didn't bother going to the military car park for a driver, he just nabbed a set of keys and signed the car out so they didn't have to wait for a driver or ask someone to sit outside the bar as they didn't know how long they would be. The drive to Madame Christmas' bar was a quiet affair, but that didn't matter to either of them since they were on their way to someone who might be able to help them find and rescue the Captain. The traffic was light, probably due to the time of night but the parking spaces outside the bar were nearly full. Falman managed to grab one of the few vacant ones before turning off the ignition and stepping out of the car, Rossi mimicking his action on the other side.

Rossi led them up the side of the building and knocked on the familiar door. They only had to wait a few moments before it opened and were greeted by Annie. "Mr. Rossi, Lieutenant Falman, how lovely to see you," the dark-skinned brunette greeted them with a flirtatious smile. She stood back to let them through and Rossi couldn't help but admire the way the dark green of her dress suited her.

"The same to you, Annie," Rossi said, letting some of his Italian charm show in his smile that had Annie laughing a little as she led them to the same room Rossi had first met her, her employer and some of her co-workers.

"You're a real charmer, aren't you?" Annie said, grinning as she sat gracefully in the loveseat, crossing her legs and clasping her hands over her knee. She waved an elegant hand at the seats and both men took the hint. "We've missed you around here, Vato. You should come by when this whole mess with Roy is cleared up," Annie gave him a friendly smile that showed no sign of flirting or that the invite was made because it was expected.

"I'm sure we'll likely have problems keeping General Mustang away from the bar once he's released," Falman said, amusement evident in his voice even if his expression didn't show it.

"I'm sure you're right," Annie said agreeably before her demeanor turned sober. "I called the office because I overheard a few of our customers tonight talking about Riza being kidnapped. Is it true?" Annie asked, gaze boring into both men and her face fell when they both nodded.

"A few hours ago, Captain Hawkeye and Alphonse Elric were on their way back into the office after walking Black Hayate, they were approached by a woman who claimed to have evidence that could help our investigation. They were tricked into an alley and attacked. Alphonse was knocked out and Captain Hawkeye was kidnapped," Falman informed her gently and Annie let out a shaky exhale.

"What time was she kidnapped?" she asked and Rossi considered her for a moment before answering.

"Alphonse believes it was close to 8:00pm tonight but he's not completely certain. We were informed Alphonse was in hospital around 9:00pm," Rossi told her and Annie scowled but Rossi was surprised because it seemed to be aimed at herself rather than at them.

"I was out before my shift officially started here," Annie waved a hand around the room to indicate she was talking about the bar, "because Madame Christmas asked me to head to one of my co-worker's apartment to check on her. She hadn't been feeling well last night and I was asked to drop by her place to see if she would be was feeling better and could work tonight or if I needed to cover her shift," Annie explained as she uncrossed then recrossed her legs. "As I was walking back to the bar to start my shift, I saw a car driving pass and I glanced up at it. I don't know why I looked up but I saw Riza in the passenger seat. I'm certain she saw me but the car sped past before I could wave. I assumed the woman driving the car was just one of her friends and that they were heading to dinner or to do some late-night shopping. I thought it was a little odd timing but then figured that she might've been getting dinner for everyone or that whatever she was doing needed to be done and didn't think more of it until I overheard those customers," Annie told them, sorrow evident in her voice and they could see the regret at not being able to help her friend or even recognise that something was wrong.

"Annie, it isn't your fault. There aren't a lot of people who would've been able to kidnap the captain. You know how she feels about the Elrics. If it had been one of us accompanying her, her kidnapper might've had a tougher time getting her to cooperate," Falman said gently. Rossi barely stopped his twitch at the mention of Hawkeye's feelings for the Elric brothers. He'd have to ask about that later.

"Or she would've just killed you outright," Annie's voice had grown a little thick but she merely cleared her throat before taking a fortifying breath. Falman and Rossi didn't argue her point. Giving her the moment needed to pull herself together, Rossi then started questioning her.

"Can you tell us anything about the woman driving and her car?" he asked, finally pulling out his notepad and writing down the information Annie had already given them.

"The woman was brunette but her hair looked lighter than mine. Maybe more of a chestnut colour? The cut was a lot softer than mine though it was a similar length. She didn't have a fringe like me, rather I think her hair was pinned back or styled back anyway," Annie told them and Rossi was already scribbling this information down. "She looked annoyed, now that I'm thinking about it, and she didn't have both hands on the steering wheel like she should have," Annie told them and both Rossi and Falman had the same thought; she was likely still holding the weapon on Hawkeye.

"Do you remember which hand wasn't on the steering wheel?" Rossi asked and Annie frowned in thought.

"I can't be certain but I think her left hand was on the steering wheel," Annie told them, uncertainty laced in her voice.

"Can you tell us anything about her car?" Rossi asked and Annie gave him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry but cars are not my forte," Annie told them. "It was a black car and it didn't look like the military cars or Roy's personal car," Annie offered the information almost like an apology.

"Did you recognise the driver at all? We believe she is a member of the military and an alchemist," Rossi told her, hoping the extra information might help.

"No," Annie said after a few moments of deep thought. "She didn't look like a customer here. We usually only attract male clientele so a female soldier or alchemist would be memorable," she confided.

"Did you get a good enough look at her face that if we found a photo of her, you would be able to recognise her?" Rossi asked and Annie immediately nodded.

"Absolutely," Annie said, completely confident.

"Can you tell me the address of where you were when you saw the car and the direction it was heading?" Rossi asked and Annie gave him the information. Once he'd finished writing that down, he stood up and tugged his jacket back in place. "I think we've asked everything we can. Thank you for calling us and telling us about this. This is very helpful information," Rossi told Annie, giving her an honest smile.

"I hope you find her quickly," Annie said as she stood at the same time Falman did. "I can't imagine Roy took this information well. He and Riza are extremely close," Annie told them as she smoothed down her dress.

"We'll do our best. When we need you to do a photo line-up, we'll give you a call," Rossi told her and she dipped her head.

"Just let me know when. I'm sure Madame Christmas will have no objection to me taking a few hours to come into the office," Annie told them, leading them back to the door and through the hallways. As she leaned against the door that led to back outside the building, keeping it open with her hip, she gave Falman and Rossi a grin. "Make sure that once you've found her and gotten Roy out, you come on back. Madame Christmas is expecting the whole team, including the young alchemist you seem intent on keeping away from here. Your team would be more than welcome as well, Mr. Rossi," Annie told him, her flirtatious smile back in place.

"I'm sure we'll be here. Thank you once again for passing along that information, Annie. If you or any of your lovely co-workers hear anything, please don't hesitate to call. Someone will always be in the office until we've gotten Captain Hawkeye back," Rossi told her and for a moment the flirtatious smile turned into a grateful one before turning back.

"We will. You gentlemen have a good night now," Annie said before pulling the door shut firmly.

The two men headed back to the car in silence. There were a few drunken customers spilling out onto the street by now, no doubt with plans to move on to the next pub or crawl back home but no one bothered them as they approached their car and hopped back in. Rossi didn't say anything to Falman as the man pulled the car out of the space and pointed it in the direction of the base before heading down the street.

"What did you mean when you told Annie that she knew what Captain Hawkeye was like about Edward and Alphonse?" Rossi asked after a few silent minutes of driving.

"Captain Hawkeye has an interesting relationship with the two brothers," Falman told him. "She doesn't see them as her sons nor as children, in Ed's case most of the time, but she doesn't see them fully as adults either. She doesn't mother them like Gracia Hughes does but she does care about them. There have been a few arguments over the years between Captain Hawkeye and General Mustang when she thought he was assigning Edward missions she thought were too dangerous or too violent for someone of his age. I guess the best way to describe her relationship with them is like their big sister or aunt. She can't show them much affection because technically Ed is her superior and it would be against regulations but she looks out for them as much as she can and helps them where she's able," Falman told him. Rossi pondered this for a few moments.

"That's why she asked Edward to join those who went to the crime scenes rather than join me, Lieutenant Ross and herself when we interviewed Madame Christmas, wasn't it?" Rossi asked and Falman nodded.

"Edward and Alphonse aren't of drinking age yet and Captain Hawkeye has made it very clear what she'll do to anyone who takes them to a bar before they're legally allowed to drink," Falman said, a slight shudder running through his frame as he remembered that threat. Havoc had it worse since he had been the one trying to sneak Ed into a pub to be his wingman.

"Yes, I've noticed Captain Hawkeye is especially apt at keeping everyone in line with a mere look," Rossi commented and Falman snorted.

"You haven't seen her when she's discovered one of General Mustang's hiding places for his unfinished paperwork," Falman said dryly.

"I can only imagine," Rossi said with a chuckle. "Think there's a coffee shop still open this late at night? No offense to your military sludge but I could go for some real coffee and I'm sure the others would appreciate a cup," Rossi asked and Falman gave it a thought.

"Yeah, there should be one open near the base. We can stop there and grab everyone a cup," Falman said and Rossi nodded his thanks before letting silence reign once more in the car.

* * *

"You two are blessings to this country and don't let anyone tell you otherwise," Ed said the moment the coffees were set down on the desks in front of everyone. Ed snatched a cup before anyone else could move and drained the hot coffee in almost no time. The Amestrian team was far too used to this behaviour to say anything and the BAU had witnessed it a couple of times in America to do much more than shake their heads fondly at his antics.

"Glad someone around here appreciates us," Rossi joked as he took his own seat and placed his own cup in front of him. Falman ruffled Ed's hair as he passed the blonde so he could take his seat again.

"What'd you learn from Annie?" Ed asked, giving Falman an annoyed look as he smoothed out his hair.

"She saw Hawkeye being driven in an unknown car by an unknown person after the kidnapping and assault," Rossi told them. "She didn't recognise the car or the woman driving it and it sped by too quickly for her to see any usable details. She thought that Hawkeye was with one of her friends, picking up dinner or something until she overheard some customers in the bar talking about Hawkeye's kidnapping," Rossi explained.

"All right. At least they'll know to keep an eye out for the woman and ears open for any rumours surrounding her kidnapping," Hotch said with a small sigh. Everyone was a little disappointed she couldn't give them a name or anything.

"I called Al's hospital room to check on him and to make sure Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh are okay," Ed piped up. "Major Armstrong promised them he'd visit Al sometime tomorrow morning before he's due to report for duty. I've asked Al to ask Armstrong to draw a sketch of the woman who attacked him. If we're lucky, maybe he or General Armstrong or Ross and Brosh might recognise her," Ed told them but it was obvious he didn't believe they were that lucky.

"How's Alphonse doing?" Rossi asked and Ed chuckled.

"He's already bored," Ed told him with a grin. "I promised to stop by when I can and drop a few books off to him."

"That sounds typical of an Elric," Havoc smirked. Ed flipped him off but didn't argue.

"What books will you take him?" Reid asked and Ed nodded towards the inner office.

"I'm gonna steal some of the bastard's texts," Ed told him. "I'll go through them tomorrow when I get the time. Don't want to accidently give Al any of Mustang's personal research journals. The bastard will throw a fit," Ed rolled his eyes before looking up at the clock and realising how late it was. "You guys can go and get some sleep if you need to," Ed told them but no one moved.

"I think we're good," Morgan told him with a smirk. "It won't be the first time we've pulled an all-nighter like this." Ed smiled back before turning to Sheska.

"Do you want someone to drive you home, Miss Sheska?" Ed asked and she gave him a big smile.

"No, thank you, Edward. I want to help find who hurt Alphonse and took Captain Hawkeye. I'm used to staying up all night as well," she assured him. Ed takes a moment to realise she doesn't sound as shy as she had during the first couple of days and was pleased that she had grown comfortable enough around everyone to come out of her shell so much.

"If you're sure," Ed trailed off and she nodded vehemently so he let it go with a smile. "Okay, then. Let's keep going. Hopefully, Granger will be ringing shortly with more names and we'll figure out this woman's identity," he said, a little optimistically if he was honest but he refused to listen to the small voice in his head that was telling him they were wrong; that Chambers had nothing to do with the attacks and they were wasting precious time. Instead, he grabbed the notebook he'd been reading and resumed where he'd left off, determined to get through as many of these notebooks as possible.

* * *

For the second time in the space of a few hours, everyone nearly jumped out of their skins when the shrill ringing of the phone sounded in the silent room. Again, Havoc was the one to answer it while Ed swore softly under his breath, cursing the person on the other end of the line. "Lieutenant Colonel Elric's office, Lieutenant Havoc speaking," Havoc greeted. Somehow, he managed to sound like he got a full nine hours sleep, even though none of them had slept in over twenty-four hours. "Lieutenant-Colonel Granger, good morning," Havoc said and the moment he said her name, everyone stopped what they were doing. "Yes, I have a pen and paper," Havoc said as Falman shoved his pen and some paper towards the smoker.

There was silence for a couple of minutes, only interrupted by Havoc's clarification on the names Granger was providing him. "Thank you for calling us back, Lieutenant Colonel Granger. We plan on asking Major Armstrong to visit Alphonse Elric later today to create a sketch of his attacker. Would it be alright if we could come by your office to show your team the sketch and see if they can give us a name?" Havoc asked and Ed nodded approvingly at him for thinking to ask. "Of course. We can give you a call before we plan on coming by. Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel. Have good day," Havoc said politely before hanging up the phone.

"How many names did you get?" Ed asked and Havoc scanned the paper in his hand, silently counting.

"Thirteen," Havoc told him. Ed was a little surprised that twenty-two people – including the nine names Prentiss was given the previous night – fit the unsub's description.

"That is a _lot_ of angry women," Morgan said with an impressed whistle. Prentiss hit him in the arm lightly, causing the dark-skinned man to laugh at her as he moved with the punch.

"Breda, Prentiss, Morgan, you three can split that list up between yourselves and find the interviews that go with them," Hotch instructed, stopping the two agents from delving into bickering. Havoc passed over the list to Morgan before getting back to what he was doing before the phone rang.

* * *

Ed felt like he was never going to finish his pile of notebooks. It seemed like his 'to read' pile never seemed to shrink, no matter how many books he actually read. They were left alone in the office for the next few hours, with only two interruptions. The first one had been shortly after Granger's phone call when an aide dropped of the Amestris team's paperwork. Ed had frowned at the lack of it but was soon told that Grumman had diverted as much paperwork as he could so the team could focus more on Hawkeye. They'd only been given the paperwork that could only be signed by Ed or his team and absolutely _had_ to be done that day. Twenty minutes later saw Fuery taking their finished paperwork and dropping it off wherever it needed to go.

The second interruption had been a phone call from Denny Brosh. At first Ed had thought something had happened when Brosh said it was him calling but that panic lasted the three seconds it took for the man to assure Ed that Alphonse was perfectly fine. The reason for his call was to just let him know that Major Armstrong had come by to wish Al a speedy recovery – Ross had managed to stop Armstrong from stripping – but he had apologised when asked if he could do a sketch as he had a meeting with General Brathwaite that he couldn't be late too. He promised to swing by on his lunch break though so he could sit with Al and work on the sketch. Ed thanked Brosh for passing along the news and told him that he would be dropping by as soon as he could so he could drop some books off to Al before hanging up the phone after exchanging goodbyes with the other man.

Around nine o'clock that morning, Hotch instructed Fuery and Morgan to head to the labs to see whether there were any results from the tests they still had to run on the evidence from the crimes that Mustang had been arrested for and whether there was anything from the test results Granger had received for the Chambers investigation that matched the results for their original investigation. Fuery had promised he would bring back food and coffee for everyone, which Ed was grateful for.

It still didn't stop Ed from putting his best puppy eyes to work and asked if JJ wouldn't mind going to the mess with him so they could get what the mess claimed was coffee for everyone while they waited for Fuery to bring back real coffee. JJ rolled her eyes fondly but acquiesced to his request and they both headed for the mess. Ed knew he was grateful for being able to leave the office for a little while and being able to move about a bit and judging from the look on JJ's face, she was as well.

Armed with numerous cups of coffee, stacked slightly precariously in carry trays, the two of them headed back to the office a mere twenty minutes after leaving it. Ed had been pretty focused on getting some precious caffeine into his system, draining one cup before ordering a second one.

As the woman behind the counter worked on his coffee, JJ glanced at Edward. "Edward, are you okay?"

Edward looked at her in surprise. "Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just looked really upset after you and the others got back from talking to General Mustang. I wasn't sure if it was just because you were still worried about Alphonse, or if something else happened while you were talking to him."

Edward shrugged, trying for nonchalance. "It's not a big deal. Mustang was upset when we told him about Captain Hawkeye, but I was expecting that he would be. They've worked together for a really long time, and I know he's frustrated that he's stuck in that cell when she needs help."

"Okay, if you're sure," JJ said, although she seemed skeptical. "If you want to talk about anything though, you know any of us would be happy to talk to you."

"I'm fine, JJ," he assured her. "Tired, and ready for this whole thing to be over with, but it's nothing that I can't deal with until we find out who the bitch behind this is and lock her up."

She nodded, and they took the last few cups of coffee before heading back towards the office, Ed thinking hard about what she'd said the whole way there. This would be the first time since speaking to Mustang that he'd left the office, giving Havoc and Hotch the privacy they would need to give everyone the details of what had happened between him and Mustang. He'd suspected that Havoc had told Prentiss last night on their way back from Granger's office but neither had said anything when they got back. He knew he wouldn't have been able to convince the three men who'd witnessed what had happened to stay quiet about it but that didn't mean he liked the idea of everyone knowing what Mustang had said.

It was embarrassing that he'd allowed Mustang to get under his skin that way. The agents (and Mustang's team) were all used to hearing the two of them fight, but the fights were never serious like they had been the day before. Even when he'd been at his angriest with Mustang in the past, he'd never actually struck his commander in the face, after all. Above all else, he didn't want anyone else to know what Mustang had said, even if it was all true. He thought he felt a nudge from one of the Voltron Lions but when nothing broke through he just figured it one of them making the barest check up on him, just making sure he was still alive and he felt warmth spread through him at that.

"Come get your coffee," Ed announced as he kicked open the door to the office, startling the BAU members and Sheska who weren't used to Ed's violent door-opening ways. JJ was barely able to keep hold of her own coffee tray, obviously having not expected Ed to open the door that way. The moment the trays were put on the desks, the coffees were claimed, leaving only two sitting in one of the trays that Ed and JJ were quick to grab before they took their seats. "Nothing happened while we were gone?" Ed asked hopeful that some lead came in for them but there were headshakes from everyone. Ed sighed but he had expected that so he grabbed the notebook he'd been reading up once more.

"Hey, Ed?" Reid called before he got a few words into the page and Ed looked up, eyebrow raised questioningly so Reid continued. "When do you plan on visiting Alphonse next?" Reid asked and Ed thought for a moment.

"After Fuery and Morgan get back. I want to know if they discover anything useful," Ed told him. "I can bounce everything off of Al and might be able to come up with something. You never know," Ed shrugged a shoulder.

"Mind if I go with you?" Reid asked and Ed grinned at him.

"Sure," Ed agreed easily. He knew Reid and Alphonse got along really well and in all honesty, he likely would've asked the young BAU agent to join him anyway. Reid looked happy with that and the glance Ed directed to Hotch told him the BAU's team leader was happy enough with the arrangement so he settled back in his chair and resumed reading.

* * *

Morgan and Fuery didn't waste time walking to the lab. Instead, they requisitioned a military vehicle and driver and were driven to the labs. Fuery and Morgan hadn't gotten much of a chance to get to know one another over the last few days since they hadn't been assigned to follow the same lead like this before. They didn't talk much during the drive and the driver didn't say anything more than his rank and name and ask where they needed to go.

"Good morning, Claudia," Fuery greeted with a delighted smile at the plain looking red-head at the desk.

"Kain! What are you doing here?" Claudia asked, grinning happily at the sight of her friend, as she made her way around the desk to give Fuery a quick hug. "And who's your friend?" Claudia asked when she noticed Morgan standing there.

"Derek Morgan, ma'am," Morgan said as he shook her hand and offered her a charming smile that caused her to blush furiously.

"Claudia Roslyn. Pleasure to meet you," Claudia introduced herself once she fought back her blush and turned back to Fuery. "What do you need, Kain?" She asked as she moved back behind her desk and resumed her job.

"We'd like to speak with Doctor Nesbo, if he's available?" Kain asked and Claudia nodded.

"Sure. I'll give him a call and see if he can talk," Claudia told them and picked up the phone to do just that.

Fuery and Morgan stood to the side of the desk, out of Claudia's line of sight to the front door in case someone else walked in and she needed to help them. It only took her a minute to start and finish her conversation with Doctor Nesbo and she was quickly hanging up the phone.

"Doctor Nesbo will be down in a few minutes to speak with you both," Claudia told them before they could ask.

"Thanks, Claudia. We'll just wait over there," Fuery told her, pointing over his shoulder to the chairs Morgan, Reid and Falman had sat in when they first met Nesbo. Claudia nodded and went to say something but her phone rang and she had to answer it.

Nesbo arrived within five minutes, just after Fuery had finished explaining to Morgan that he and Claudia had been childhood friends, attending the same school for a few years, though Fuery had graduated first as he was a year older than her. They'd reconnected after years of not seeing each other when Claudia and Fuery had run into each other when Claudia started working for the crime laboratory.

"Gentlemen, what can I do for you?" Nesbo asked, a bright and curious smile on his face.

"Hello again, Doctor Nesbo," Morgan said, shaking the man's hand when he offered. "I'm not sure if you know him already but this is Warrant Officer Kain Fuery," Morgan introduced the younger man and Nesbo offered his hand to Fuery.

"No, I don't think I've had the honour. Doctor Dean Nesbo," Fuery shook his hand and Nesbo looked at both of them expectantly.

"We'd like to discuss any new test results you've gotten in and question you about another case, if you have the time to spare," Morgan requested politely but his voice had a tinge of urgency to it that Nesbo couldn't resist.

"Of course. We can talk in my office. Actually," Nesbo said as he started leading them out of the front entrance, Fuery giving Claudia a wave, "you've got impeccable timing. We received the results from all of the tests we still had to run for the case you're investigating," Nesbo informed them. Both Morgan and Fuery looked excited at this information. They reached Nesbo's office in no time, only interrupted by one lab tech who asked for Nesbo's signature for a report he was holding. "Please, have a seat," Nesbo offered as he sat behind his desk. Morgan and Fuery took him up on his offer.

"Thank you," Morgan said as he pulled out his notepad and pen. "We'll start with the new results, if you don't mind, Doctor?" Morgan suggested and Nesbo nodded agreeably before sorting through a pile of folders on his desk and setting aside a couple.

"We finished the testing on the blood from the victims and any samples gathered from the scenes. I believe I already told you that carbon monoxide had been found in the blood of each of the victims?" Nesbo asked and Morgan nodded to confirm it. "I thought so. We did confirm that none of the victims had been drugged with anything our tests could pick up prior to being killed and – with the exception of Captain Bryce – none of them had excessive amounts of alcohol in their systems."

"And the unknown sample you identified at General Andrews' crime scene?" Morgan asked.

"The same. No known drugs and no alcohol in the donor's system," Nesbo told them. Morgan nodded for him to continue. "The results on the clothing yielded more answers, thankfully. Each victim had traces of an accelerant on their clothing that hadn't completely burned away. We identified the substance to be ethyl alcohol," Nesbo told them before they could ask. "Our techs are still sorting through and organising fibers, fingerprints and hair but like I told you, Mr. Morgan, we aren't hopeful and they won't be useful to either side," Nesbo reminded Morgan.

"Yes, I remember you mentioning that before," Morgan said with a small smile. "Did you find any evidence about how the accelerant was lit?" Morgan asked but Nesbo shook his head.

"No. We tested all samples and never found evidence of a match and there was no lighter at the scenes. Your best bet is that the killer took whatever they used to light the ethyl alcohol in order to further prove the fire was set with alchemy," Nesbo said insightfully. "I can't imagine General Mustang would've used a lighter or match to set a fire if he had his alchemy and I think even those who believe wholeheartedly that these crimes were committed by Mustang would find it hard to argue away a lighter or matchbook at every scene," Nesbo told them and Morgan and Fuery simply nodded in agreement.

"Is that everything regarding the test results for this case?" Morgan asked and Nesbo nodded. "Okay. We'd like to ask you about the tests you ran for Lieutenant-Colonel Granger in regard to the Frank Chambers' murder," Morgan told him and it was obvious Nesbo was confused as to why.

"Frank Chambers?" Nesbo asked and Morgan nodded. The doctor got up and moved over to his filing cabinet before sorting through his files. It took a little while but he eventually made a victorious noise and pulled a thick file out and sitting back at his desk. "What do you want to know?" Nesbo asks.

"Everything," Morgan said.

"Alright. Frank Chambers was found early on a Monday morning but was believed to have been killed either late Friday night or early Saturday morning, according to the notes from Doctor Knox and Lieutenant-Colonel Granger," Nesbo started explaining. "There was evidence that he was beaten severely before his death and an accelerant was poured over the entirety of his body before being set alight. His blood levels showed no trace of drugs and his carbon monoxide levels indicated he didn't inhale any smoke, telling us he was dead from the beating before being set alight. He had enough alcohol in his system that he likely wouldn't have been able to walk or see well," Nesbo told them, flipping through various reports. "The accelerant was identified as ethyl alcohol," at this, Nesbo paused and grabbed a report from the serial killings and compared the two, "and it looks like it's the same as the accelerant used in the five murders. There were no additives in any samples which tells me that this was pure ethyl alcohol used," Nesbo explained before focusing back on the Chambers file.

"Ah, there were plenty of fibers, hairs and fingerprints found at the scene but, like with the six other crime scenes, there are a lot of them and I have my doubts that any of those results will be of use when the case goes to trial," Nesbo said with a small sigh. "A button was found at this scene that didn't look like it had been there long. It was collected and brought to us for testing. We found a partial print on the button, likely from when the wearer touched it when buttoning their clothing that morning. It was identified as the button on military-issued jackets but the print hasn't been matched as Lieutenant-Colonel Granger hasn't arrested someone for us to compare their prints to," Nesbo told them before they could get too excited about that information. "Other than that, there really wasn't anything of value to the investigators that we could tell them," Nesbo said, closing the folder back up. "May I ask why you were interested in this case?"

"Last night there was an attack on two of our team members. One was hospitalised and is expected to make a full recovery but our second team member was kidnapped. During the assault, the suspect claimed they had killed six people and Lieutenant-Colonel Elric and his brother remembered attending the Chambers' crime scene with General Mustang, who had been called in because of his experience with burned bodies. General Mustang never actually investigated the scene, as he excused himself and Lieutenant-Colonel Elric from the case when they learned of the victim's identity since General Mustang had had a recent altercation with Chambers and believed it would've been a conflict of interest," Fuery explained before Morgan could and Morgan was a little surprised that Fuery had taken the lead. "They believed that it was possible that Chambers could've been the first victim and no one had connected his murder to the other five because of how much time had passed between Chambers' murder and Bryce's. We wanted to know whether the tests you ran on both cases had resulted in any forensic connection between Chambers and the five other murders," Fuery told him.

"Like I said," Nesbo started saying after a few moments' consideration, "the ethyl alcohol is chemically the same. There isn't anything added to any sample that shouldn't be there and what _is_ there can be found in the same levels in both cases. The wound on all the victims' skulls are similar as well, indicating they were made with similar weapons. There wasn't any other helpful evidence found at any of the scenes to help connect the two cases, forensically at least," Nesbo said apologetically.

"Thank you for the information, Doctor Nesbo," Morgan gave him a smile that showed he wasn't upset about how little connected the cases. "Have you forwarded the results of the tests run for Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes?" Morgan asked and Nesbo shook his head.

"No, we only got these results this morning. I'd been about to call Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes' team when Claudia rang me to let me know you were asking to talk with me," Nesbo told them.

"We'd be happy to deliver the results for you, if you'd like. Save whoever Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes sends to pick them up," Morgan offered and Nesbo nodded.

"That would be very helpful. Is there anything else you need?" Nesbo asked. Morgan and Fuery exchanged a glance but neither could think of anything.

"No, not at the moment," Morgan told him and Nesbo nodded understandably.

"Alright, I'll just make a copy of these reports for you," Nesbo told them. "If you'd like, you're welcome to head back to the front area and I'll bring you the copy when it's ready," Nesbo told them, knowing it might take a little while. He had to hand-copy the latest reports and that wouldn't be a quick process.

"I think we'll do that, thank you," Morgan said, climbing to his feet. Fuery followed quickly.

"No worries. If you want some coffee or tea, ask Claudia. She can get you some from the staff room," Nesbo offered and they nodded their thanks once again before leaving the room and leaving the doctor to start copying the reports out.

* * *

Edward was surprised and a little annoyed that it took nearly three hours for Fuery and Morgan to return to the office, though his annoyance was lessened by the fact that Morgan and Fuery were carrying breakfast and coffee. Just like when Ed and JJ had returned from the mess earlier, the food and coffee was claimed the moment it was set on the desk.

"What took you guys so long?" Ed asked in between mouthfuls of his breakfast and sips of his coffee.

"We offered to wait for a copy of the report so we could drop it off with Brookes. Brookes promised to hand over a copy later today once he's looked at it, by the way," Morgan told him. "No one told me that Amestris hasn't developed anything capable of copying things quickly. Doctor Nesbo had to copy the report by hand," Morgan informed them. "Then we stopped and got breakfast for you lot," Morgan looked pointedly at the sandwich Ed had just finished shoving in his face before starting on the second one Fuery had wisely ordered for him, well aware of how much Ed needed to eat and his tendency to skip meals when he got stuck on a case or spent all of his time reading.

"And we really appreciate you doing that," Ed told him with a grin that had Morgan rolling his eyes. "What'd the reports say?" Ed asked, bringing everyone's attention from their food.

"Ethyl alcohol was found on each body and confirmed as the accelerant. No drugs found in their systems either so the poor buggers really were knocked out with a blow to the head," Morgan told them. "Nesbo told us that the ethyl alcohol found on Chambers matches the ethyl alcohol found on the other five bodies and that the wounds on the skulls looked like they were made by the same weapon. The button was identified as the kind that can be found on the standard military uniform jacket and they found a fingerprint on it which they're confident they can match to a suspect when someone gives them one," Morgan finished his summary. The news about the button was exciting but they also knew that the prosecution could possibly make a reasonable case saying that Chambers murder wasn't connected to the others, which would still leave Mustang on the hook for the crimes he _was_ charged with. They'd still need a confession or more evidence.

"All right, well we might be able to see if Brookes and Granger will get together and officially declare that these cases are connected. Since I'm not the lead investigator for either official investigation, I can't do it," Ed told them before glancing up at the clock. "Crap, I need to head to the hospital and see Al and Armstrong," he said, scrambling to his feet and disappearing into the inner office.

"He _does_ know that's not the hospital, right?" Morgan asked jokingly. Prentiss rolled her eyes exaggeratingly at him.

"He's just grabbing some books for Alphonse," Reid told him absentmindedly as he continued to scan the notebooks he, Sheska and Edward were still getting through, having missed the joking tone of Morgan's voice. Before Morgan could point that out, Ed came back from the inner office with five thick alchemy books in his arms and an excited look in his eyes.

"Okay, so I just had a thought," Ed said as he let the books drop heavily on the desk in front of him. "Mustang told us his teacher burned all of his research journals, right?" Hotch and Morgan nodded in agreement. "The thing is, I remembered that my asshole of a father kept separate research and personal journals in his study at our house," Ed told them, ignoring the slight widening eyes of Mustang's team who all knew how rare it was for Ed to mention his father, even now that he knew what happened and why. "Maybe Mustang's teacher did the same thing. Wrote about his research in one set of journals and kept his personal journals separate, that is. So what if he only burned his research journals but kept his personal ones?" Ed asked excitedly and the energy in the room became charged with excitement.

"You're thinking that _if_ he kept personal journals and _if_ he didn't burn them with the research ones, he might have written the names of his apprentices down somewhere in them?" Hotch asked, tone making it obvious he thought this might be a bit of a long stretch.

"I know it's unlikely but there's a chance, yeah?" Ed said and Hotch had to admit it was possible.

"It's worth looking into. What do you want to do?" Hotch asked and Ed flashed him a grateful grin.

"Havoc, JJ, would you mind going to visit Mustang while I'm at the hospital and asking him if his teacher kept personal journals, whether they survived and if they did, where they are?" Ed asked and both of them nodded agreeably. Ed pretended he didn't see the slight tensing of Havoc's jaw at the thought of talking with Mustang after their visit yesterday. "If you find out before we get back, can you call the hospital and tell me? If they do exist and Mustang knows where they are, Reid and I might as well go get them on our way back from the hospital," Ed told them.

"Of course, Edward. You and Spence make sure you keep an eye out while you're at the hospital," JJ said, unable to quite keep her mothering in check.

"Sure thing, Miss JJ," Ed grinned as he gathered up his books. "You good to go?" Ed asked Reid, who nodded and joined Ed at the door. "We'll see you guys later," Ed said with a cheerful grin.

"Say hello to Alphonse from us," Prentiss said and Ed nodded and assured her he would before he and Reid left to grab a military car.

"We'll head over to visit Mustang now, if you aren't busy, Lieutenant Havoc?" JJ asked and Havoc shook his head.

"Nah, may as well see what he reckons to the chief's idea," Havoc said with a smirk as he stood from his desk. JJ moved around everyone else to reach the door the same time he did. "We shouldn't be long. Maybe an hour," Havoc said to the group. There were nods to show they'd heard him and the two disappeared through the door.

* * *

The drive to the hospital wasn't long but Ed found himself a little upset that their driver was neither Browning nor Drayton. However, he was pleasant enough, and didn't ask any questions other than wanting to know where they were going. Reid and Ed spoke about the notebooks they'd been reading and comparing ideas on some of the more suspicious interviewees in hushed voices, not willing to be overheard by anyone, even the sergeant driving them.

"Would you like me to wait here, Sir?" Sergeant Codd asked once he'd pulled into a spare parking spot in the hospital car park.

"Yes, please. We might be a couple of hours so if you want to go get some lunch or something, that's fine," Ed told him and the man looked a little surprised at the offer. Ed knew it was unusual to allow drivers to go get food or get personal errands done rather than sending them back to the base or telling them to stay with the car outside their passengers' destination. Drayton had shown the same surprise when she'd been allowed to leave to do what she liked while Ed and Hawkeye babysat the generals and their search teams during the raid on Mustang's house.

"Thank you, Sir. I'll be back in two hours," Codd told them. Ed nodded his acceptance with that plan and he and Reid headed towards the hospital. Reid had managed to persuade Ed into handing over a couple of the books so he wouldn't be carrying them all. Ed had rolled his eyes but handed over two books.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Elric," a nurse greeted once she spotted them. Her eyes roved over the two of them clinically, checking for any injuries. "Well, you're not bleeding, limping or unconscious so that means you're here to visit your brother," she said decisively.

"You would be correct, Nurse Carol," Ed said with a grin.

"Do you know everyone who works here?" Reid asked as Carol waved them along with a warning to stay out of trouble that Ed had winked cheekily at.

"Um, probably," Ed admitted as he weaved through the hospital and its employees with practiced ease. "I've been admitted a few times though Havoc's patched me up just as much," Ed told him. "Plus, Al was here for two months and I was here every single day for at least one of them. After that, I was here whenever I got the chance so I met a lot of the staff during that time," Ed divulged as he found Al's room and knocked. He waited all of a second before opening the door.

"Brother!" Al said happily once he realised who it was. "Doctor Reid, it's nice to see you as well," Al gave the young doctor a smile once he spotted him.

"Hey, Al. How are you today?" Ed asked as he plopped down into the chair he'd claimed while waiting for Al to wake up the previous day. "Hey, Miss Maria. Hey, Brosh," Ed greeted the two soldiers as he shoved the books in his arms to his brother. Reid was a little nicer and handed them to Alphonse.

"Hey, Ed," they both chorused in greeting.

"Thanks, Ed, Reid," Al said, looking over the titles. "I'm fine, by the way. Doctor Evans is happy with how my head wound looks and believes I'm no longer in any kind of danger from a brain hemorrhage or anything," Al told him cheerfully. "How are you?" Al asked, noting his brother was still in the same clothes he'd worn the day before.

"I'm fine. I spoke to Grumman immediately after I left here," Ed told him. "I told him we thought Chambers could've been the first victim and he granted us permission to go through Lieutenant-Colonel Granger's case files about his case. We've been working all night going through it all. Chambers kept detailed notebooks about threats he'd received and whatnot throughout his military career. A lot of people threatened him bodily harm, especially while he was an assessor for the State Alchemy program so there's a fuck-ton of notebooks to read," Ed groaned at the thought of the ones still remaining. Reid had honestly been a blessing as the man could speed-read like no one's business and had read at least four notebooks for every one Ed and Sheska managed to read.

"Did you speak with General Mustang and tell him what was going on?" Al asked, noting the way Ed stiffened slightly at the mentioned of Mustang.

"Course I did, Al," Ed scoffed. "Bastard took the news like I expected but we managed to get him to use his brain and realise we were his best hope of getting Miss Riza back 'cuz he could do nothing from the cell. We spoke about his fire alchemy since that was the only thing he could think of that anyone would kidnap Captain Hawkeye for and rant about him and Master Hawkeye about," Ed told him. "Her dad was Mustang's alchemy teacher and he invented fire alchemy. We promised we wouldn't say much more than that but the gist is that this woman is likely under the impression that the Captain knows the secrets of fire alchemy because of her dad and her relationship with Mustang. Then Mustang actually had a decent thought, for once, and realised that since the woman is an alchemist, it's possible she was once a student of Master Hawkeye but was denied the knowledge of flame alchemy and was expelled from his tutelage," Ed finished his report to his brother and realised that both Maria and Brosh had been listening intently. "Has the major been by yet?" Ed asked them.

"Not yet. Though he should be here any minute, assuming he hasn't been held back at the office for any reason," Maria told him, glancing at the clock. As always, the saying 'speak of the devil' proved itself true when there was a thunderous knock on the door that Brosh immediately opened and managed to jump out of the way quickly enough to avoid being accidentally trampled by Major Armstrong himself as he thudded into the room.

"Alphonse Elric, it's wonderful to see you in such high spirits! Ah, young Edward, I see you've decided to pay your younger brother a visit! How lovely to see such a wonderful show of sibling love!" Armstrong boomed, near tears at the sight of Ed sitting next to Alphonse. Ed thought that was a bit dramatic before remembering who exactly it was in front of him.

"It's good to see you too, Major Armstrong," Al said with a smile while Reid tried to adjust to the rather impressive presence of Armstrong. Maria and Brosh just looked resigned.

"Hey, Major Armstrong. How are you?" Ed asked as Armstrong squeezed himself into the seat next to Reid, looking rather comical as he sat there in a chair that looked like it was designed for a child in comparison to his bulk.

"I am well, young Edward! How wonderful of you to ask me!" Armstrong said with a grin.

"Have you seen your sister today yet?" Ed asked, curious about how the Ice Queen was healing but willing to admit he was not confident in his survival chances if he paid a visit himself and inquired about her health directly.

"She is healing marvelously, thank you for asking! Quick healing had been a trait that's been passed down the Armstrong family for generations! I'm sure she'll be as pleased as I am to hear that you've been inquiring about her well-being!" Armstrong claimed happily, causing Ed to pale a little.

"Oh, you really don't have to tell her I asked," Ed told him while Al – the traitor – tried to muffle his giggles at his brother's predicament. He glared at Maria and Brosh, who also looked far too amused at what was happening than Ed thought they should be. Only Reid wasn't looking as amused as the others but Ed wondered if that was because he had far more practice at keeping his amusement hidden.

"Nonsense, young Edward! She'll be tickled pink, knowing others outside of our family are concerned for her!" Armstrong insisted and Ed began wondering if it were possible to convince Al to pretend he had died when General Armstrong tried to find him to kill him. Then he realised Al would probably hold him down and resolved to ask the Lions when they got back in contact with him about whether Princess Allura had figured out interdimensional travel yet. Maybe if they had, he could convince them to come steal him from Amestris until General Armstrong only wanted to maim him rather than kill him.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Major Armstrong, but I'm sure you'd like the chance to actually get some lunch whilst on your break. Maybe Alphonse should start describing his attacker for you?" Maria suggested and Edward mentally blessed her and took back any bad thoughts about her he'd had.

"An excellent idea, Lieutenant Ross!" Armstrong praised loud enough for those back at the base to hear him. "Alright, young Alphonse, let's get started," he said as he pulled out an art sketching pad and pieces of charcoal.

"Sure, Major Armstrong. Where would you like me to start?" Al asked eagerly, sitting up a little bit straighter in his bed.

"I've always found it easier to start with the shape of the face," Armstrong told him and Edward wasn't the only one visibly shocked with how quiet his voice had sounded. It was still far louder than anyone else but at least he wasn't trying to turn them deaf.

"She had a small, oval-shaped face," Al told him and Armstrong started sketching. Ed, who had only witnessed Armstrong's artistic prowess in action twice before, watched in avid fascination as the massive man delicately moved the charcoal across the page, slowly bringing the likeness of the unsub to life on the page with every comment made by Alphonse.

* * *

Mustang would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised at seeing JJ and Havoc approaching his cell, the ever-present guard at their side. He'd been especially surprised by Havoc's appearance as he'd figured the man would be rightfully angry with him still after what he'd said to Edward the previous night. A look at his face showed Mustang that he was still angry and Mustang thought the tightness of JJ's lips meant she knew as well and wasn't impressed with him either. Mustang hadn't slept well the night before. His guilt had kept him tossing and turning, worried he'd destroyed his relationship with Ed completely, as had his concern for his captain.

"Lieutenant Havoc, Miss Jareau, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Mustang asked once the guard had moved a respectable distance away.

"Ed had a thought while he was rifling through the bookshelves in your office," Havoc said and Mustang's eye twitched slightly at the thought of the mess Ed might've made. Havoc continued like he hadn't noticed, "He wanted to take Alphonse a few alchemic texts to read while he was in the hospital." Mustang figured that was something he would've let Ed do anyways so he didn't comment. "He sent us to ask you about it," Havoc told him.

"He remembered you saying that your alchemy teacher destroyed his research journals and notes regarding flame alchemy but do you remember if he kept any personal journals?" JJ asked and Mustang actually balked for a moment.

"Yes, I believe he did," Mustang said, casting his mind back. "In fact, I believe he started keeping them when Captain Hawkeye was born so she would have them when she was older," Mustang told them.

"Did he burn them alongside his research journals and notes?" JJ asked. Mustang's mind stopped for a moment as he considered the question.

"I don't believe he did," Mustang said after a few moments. "In fact, I'm certain he didn't. I wasn't there when he burned his research but I helped Captain Hawkeye sort through his house when he passed away and I recall seeing her packing away some journals in her father's study. I didn't think anything of it at the time as I assumed he merely had written about other, less dangerous alchemies in those notebooks but now that I think about it, they didn't look like the journals he favoured for research."

"What _did_ they look like?" JJ asked.

"His research journals were bound in dark leather, almost black, and were rather unassuming to look at. He had his initials stamped onto the covers but that was the only thing that could've separated those journals from any typical journal in the shops," Mustang told them. "The journals I saw Captain Hawkeye pack away were a lighter brown and had tasteful gold trimming on the front cover with her initials stamped into it and coloured with gold. They were bound with a thin leather strip attached to the inside of the spine that was then wrapped around the entire book to secure it," Mustang recalled as much detail as he could.

"Did she keep them, do you know?" JJ asked before asking another question rather than allowing Mustang to answer the first. "Where are they?" Mustang considered.

"Captain Hawkeye would not be considered a sentimental person by any means," he told them, "but I believe she did keep those journals as they contained stories from when her mother was still alive and she loved her mother dearly," Mustang told them. "She keeps the journals in her apartment, in a bookcase in her room. There won't be any other books in that unit," Mustang said.

"Who do we need to ask in order to gain entry into her apartment?" JJ asked, not willing to risk that it could be illegal to enter a kidnap victim's home without permission here and costing them the case.

"You don't need permission but if you did, it would be from me or her best friend, Rebecca, and I will freely give you permission," Mustang told them.

"Rebecca is looking after Black Hayate so the chief can ask her when he visits her apartment with Reid after talking to Alphonse," Havoc said to JJ when the blonde agent had looked unconvinced his permission would be enough.

"How is Alphonse doing?" Mustang asked, concern bleeding in his voice.

"He's fine, as far as we know," Havoc told him. "Ed spoke to him this morning to check on him and see if Major Armstrong would drop by and do a sketch of the unsub for us. The doctor is happy with how he's healing but is still insisting he stay in hospital for now," Havoc said and Mustang breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good to hear," Mustang said before straightening up a little from where he stood. "I have a favour to ask of you," he told them and was met with surprised faces.

"What would that be?" JJ asked.

"Would you please ask Fullmetal to pay me a visit, by himself, sometime this afternoon?" Mustang asked and was answered with the resistant looks he'd been expecting.

"I heard about what you said to him yesterday and while I can understand that was said because you were angry and hurt and lashing out to the person who gave you the bad news, I'm still angry at you," JJ told him and Mustang wasn't surprised. "Why would we ask Edward to come here by himself and talk with you?" JJ asked, crossing her arms and cocking a hip, her facial expression telling him his answer had better be really good.

"Because I want to apologise to him. I know how badly I hurt him, more so than perhaps you even realise. He deserves an apology from me and I am more than willing to give it and beg him for forgiveness for what I said," Mustang told them. He was certain that if Havoc didn't have an unlit cigarette in between his lips, his jaw would've dropped. JJ, on the other hand, was taking in every small detail about his facial expressions and the way he held himself, trying to ascertain whether he was lying or being honest. She finally came to a conclusion and gave a small nod.

"We'll let Edward know that you want to speak with him, to apologise to him, but we will _not_ make him come and see you, do you understand? You hurt him horrifically last night, far more than he'd ever admit. In fact, the only reason any of us know is because Havoc, Hotch and Morgan told us. I doubt he'll even tell Alphonse while he's there today but rest assured that if Ed leaves Reid alone in that room with him, he will find out," JJ warned him. "So, we'll pass along the message but it is completely Edward's choice whether he comes here." Mustang nodded his agreement.

"Thank you for agreeing to tell Fullmetal," Mustang said gratefully. "And thank you for caring for him so much. He deserves to have people be as open as you and the rest of the BAU are with their affection for him," Mustang told her and JJ nodded in complete agreement.

"That he does," she said simply. Havoc looked like he wasn't sure he was even awake and hearing their conversation right.

"If you tell him what I said, Lieutenant Havoc, I'll tell any future date of yours that you're married with kids," Mustang threatened and his threat was what snapped Havoc out of his stupor.

"Now, that's just mean, bossman," Havoc complained but Mustang remained unmoved. "Fine. He won't hear it from me. But he should hear it from you," Havoc told him. Mustang didn't say anything in reply but he did give Havoc a sharp nod to acknowledge his words.

"We'll let you know if anything new develops and I'm sure someone will be by with the sketch Major Armstrong comes up with to see if you recognise her," JJ told him and Mustang gave her a grateful smile.

"I look forward to it," Mustang told her. "Hopefully, the next time I see the two of you, I'll be out of these," he lifted his hands to indicate his cuffs, "and Captain Hawkeye will be back in the office." Both JJ and Havoc nodded solemnly.

"We hope so too," JJ told him.

A/N - Chapter 19 is here for all of you amazing people! As always, I'll start my author's note by extending my neverending thanks to PhoenixQueen! Without her sticking by me as my beta, you guys wouldn't be getting such amazingly written chapters every week.

The next lot of thanks go out to those of you who reviewed the last chapter! I'll admit, I was hoping for more reviews because I absolutely love hearing from the readers but to those of you who did leave a review, I just want you to know that I absolutely loved reading them and I appreciate them more than you'll ever likely realise. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chapter! See you next week!


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty:**

JJ and Havoc walked back to the office together, each lost in their own thoughts, and neither one speaking to the other. Havoc was still working on believing that he'd actually heard General Mustang say that he wanted to apologise to Edward. Amongst their team, the fact that Mustang _did_ care about Edward and Alphonse wasn't a secret, but they also all knew that the General couldn't openly show it because it wouldn't have been appropriate. The rest of the team could get away with showing their affection for Ed to a slightly bigger degree, but they all knew that it had never been _their_ respect and approval that Ed had truly sought, even if the teenaged alchemist would have denied it with his dying breath.

Ed and Mustang had always had a contentious relationship. It seemed as if they were at each other's throat on a daily basis. It actually happened so frequently that Havoc and Breda had often placed bets on which of their superior officers would come up with the best insult that day. So the fact that General Mustang had been so completely honest about his regret and remorse over his words the day before, _and_ the fact that he had acknowledged that Edward hadn't deserved those spiteful words but he did _deserve_ an apology was surprising indeed.

JJ, on the other hand, was still worried about Ed going to see Mustang by himself. Her concern wasn't just because of what happened the previous day between the two alchemists, however. The woman behind the killings, assaults, and kidnapping of Captain Hawkeye was still on the loose and they all knew she was determined to learn the secrets of flame alchemy. Despite their theory that she wouldn't bother going after Edward because of how well-known it was that he didn't know anything about flame alchemy, there was still a chance that she would prove them wrong. The unsub had obviously been watching them the past few days and Hawkeye for much longer since she knew the route the captain took to walk Black Hayate. Even though she had Hawkeye, if she had the captain in an isolated, secure location, she could risk leaving her along for a few hours at a time so she could try and see when Edward would be alone or try to check up on the case.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Havoc asked as he lit a fresh cigarette. JJ startled slightly, pulling herself out of her thoughts and realised that they were nearly back at the office. She didn't even remember leaving the holding cells after signing out.

"I was just trying to decide whether we should allow Edward to visit General Mustang by himself, assuming that he even agrees to talk with him," JJ admitted. Havoc gave her a questioning look as he took a drag on his cigarette and she elaborated. "I'm worried about whether or not there's a chance he'd be in any danger from the unsub. I know we said she likely knows that Ed knows nothing about Mustang's alchemy, but there's a chance that we're wrong, or even that she could be desperate enough to try to kidnap him anyway."

Havoc chuckled. "I'd almost welcome her trying to kidnap the chief," he said lightly, "because he would _not_ be easy prey. Now he has her description, and he also has a strong desire to avenge Alphonse, and he's one of the best hand-to-hand combatants the military has. But, if you're truly worried about him," he added, before she could scold him for making light of her concern, "you could suggest that Ed bring someone along with him who could wait at the sign in desk and leave him to talk to Mustang alone."

JJ considered the suggestion for a moment. "That could work," she agreed. "I'll ask Morgan to go with him," she decided and Havoc grinned at her.

"See? No need to worry about anything, Agent Jareau," he told her and she grinned back at him before scowling when some of the smoke he'd exhaled drifted into her face. Havoc's grin turned apologetic and he put a bit more distance between them so it wouldn't happen again, which JJ greatly appreciated.

They made small talk for the remainder of their walk before Havoc opened the door with a cheeky "Ladies first," that had JJ rolling her eyes, though amusement twinkled in them to show Havoc she wasn't really annoyed by the courtesy. A glance around the room showed that Ed and Reid hadn't returned yet.

"The chief ain't back yet?" Apparently Havoc had also had the same thought.

"No, not yet. He did say they'd be a couple of hours and you guys were barely gone for an hour," Breda told him. A glance at the clock on the wall showed that he'd spoken the truth.

"I'll call the hospital," Havoc said, heading across the room towards Hawkeye's desk and the office phone.

"What did Mustang have to say?" Rossi asked as Havoc picked up the phone and began to dial.

"The General said that Captain Hawkeye did keep a set of journals that her father had written for her and there's a good chance that our unsub's name could be in it," JJ replied.

"This is First Lieutenant Havoc. I need to speak with Lieutenant Colonel Elric or First Lieutenant Ross, please," Havoc said to the person who answered the phone. "Yes, I'm happy to hold, thank you," he said after a few moments.

"Lieutenant, don't tell Edward about Mustang's request. We'll tell him when he gets back to the office," JJ instructed, and Havoc gave her a small salute that she once again responded to with an eye roll. Catching the confused looks on everyone else's faces, she shook her head slightly. "I'll explain when Lieutenant Havoc is off the phone," she promised, mollifying them for the moment.

"Chief! How's Al?" Havoc asked suddenly, drawing their attentions back to the phone call. "That's good. Has Major Armstrong stopped by yet?" A massive grin formed on his face as he chuckled at whatever Ed was saying in response. "It could've been worse, chief. It could've been General Armstrong." He paused to listen to Edward for a moment before his grinned widened. "You have my deepest sympathies, chief," Havoc said, highly amused before he actually laughed. "Yes, there _is_ actually a reason that I'm calling. Agent Jareau and I went to speak to General Mustang. He remembered seeing Captain Hawkeye packing away a small collection of light brown leather journals with gold decorative trimming and her initials stamped on their cover. According to him, they were his teacher's personal journals that he started writing when she was born. General Mustang said he thinks there could be a chance that it's likely that her father wrote about his apprentices in them." There was another long pause while he listened to Edward's answer. "No, Rebecca should still be at the apartment with Black Hayate. She told me yesterday that she was going to call in sick today and stay at the Captain's place, just in case the generals or the killer decided to try and raid it. No worries. We'll see you when you get back. Stay safe, chief and say hello to Al for us." He waited a moment and then hung up.

"I take it Edward and Reid are going to go straight to Captain Hawkeye's apartment to grab the journals?" Hotch asked, and Havoc nodded.

"Yeah, Ed reckons the captain would appreciate it more if your team read the journals rather than himself or us considering how private Captain Hawkeye is about her life, and the fact that we'll have to work with her after this is all over," Havoc told them, surprising the BAU a little.

"I'm sure Reid will be agreeable to going over them," Hotch said. "So, JJ, what did you not want Ed to find out about until he got back to the office?" Hotch asked, changing the subject a little.

"Mustang asked to speak with Edward alone to apologise to him but Lieutenant Havoc and I have decided that Morgan will be going with him, though you are to wait at the sign-in desk while Ed talks with him," JJ told Morgan sternly, going so far as to point a threatening finger at him. Her expression was so serious he held his hands up in surrender.

"Yes, ma'am," Morgan said quickly, glaring at those who were unsuccessfully stifling their laughter at him.

"Did Edward give a rough estimate of how long he was going to be?" Hotch asked Havoc, ignoring the scene in front of him.

"He said he'd be leaving the hospital in a few minutes. Major Armstrong has finished his sketch of the suspect but none of them knew her name, though Armstrong commented that he had seen her around the base, confirming she is actually a soldier. Ed shouldn't be longer than an hour, I imagine," Havoc guessed and Hotch nodded.

"We'll give him and Reid an hour and a half," Hotch said decisively. "In the meantime, let's get back to work," Hotch ordered, pointedly looking at the files and notebooks they still had yet to read.

* * *

Ed had been surprised when a nurse entered the room to let him know there was a phone call from Havoc so soon after he and Reid arrived. A quick glance at the wall clock confirmed that it hadn't even been an hour since they had left the office. He shrugged at the other occupants of the room - his brother, Reid, Ross, and Brosh – before he stood up. Major Armstrong had left shortly after drawing the sketch for them since he'd also wanted to visit his sister before he had to return to duty.

After getting the information from Havoc about the location of the journals, he returned to Al's room. They all looked up at him as he entered.

"Is everything okay, Brother?" Al asked.

"Yeah, Havoc was just telling me that he and JJ paid Mustang a visit." Ed resolutely ignored the scowl the momentarily appeared on Al's face, which was a clear indication that Reid had told them about what had happened the previous day. "They found out that Captain Hawkeye did keep a set of journals from her father that he started writing when she was born." Al's and Reid's attention both sharpened.

"Did he say where she keeps them?" Reid asked and Ed nodded.

"Yeah, he did. We need to swing by Hawkeye's apartment and grab them. Rebecca should be there to let us in," Ed told them, knowing that Al's next question would have been about how they were going to gain entry to the apartment. Al frowned upon using alchemy to pick (well, deconstruct) a lock, though Ed actually saw nothing wrong with it, depending on the circumstances at least.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to have everyone read her personal journals?" Al asked worriedly and Ed made a 'calm down' gesture.

"I told Havoc that the BAU would be reading through her journals. Someone has to read them to see if there's any hint who this woman is and I think she'd prefer it not to be us," Ed told him. Al seemed to accept this but Reid looked a little confused.

"Wouldn't she prefer her friends to read through her father's personal journals about her childhood than people she's only known a few days?" Reid asked and Ed shrugged.

"She could. I'm no shrink but I think she would rather you read those journals. You guys will be leaving soon and she's a lot more private than we are," Ed said, gesturing between him and Alphonse, "and I think she'd prefer being given the choice to let us read the journals. If you guys weren't here helping us, I know that she wouldn't argue with us reading something so personal but in this case, there is a choice between us and people who are essentially strangers and I think she'd choose you guys," Ed explained and Reid seemed to accept his reasoning.

"Are you gonna leave now?" Al asked and Ed sighed, scrubbing his eyes a little.

"Yeah, we probably should. Sooner we find out who she is," he gestured to the sketch Armstrong had done that Reid was putting into his bag, "the sooner we can get Captain Hawkeye back and get General Bastard out of jail," Ed groaned a little before perking up a little. "Do you think we can convince Grumman to keep him there for a few days longer?" Ed asked half-jokingly. Al whacked him upside the head, causing Ed to yelp and rub the sore spot.

"Don't even try it, Brother," Al held a threatening finger up as Ed rolled his eyes.

"You know I wouldn't have put _too_ much effort into convincing Grumman," Ed said, flicking Al's ear before leaping away from the bed so his brother couldn't retaliate. Al settled for glaring at him while Brosh snorted in laughter and Maria looked like she was contemplating praying for the patience needed to deal with them. Reid grinned at both of them as he climbed to his feet and joined Ed at the foot of Al's bed.

"Enjoy the books, Alphonse, and we'll keep you updated on how everything goes," Reid promised him and Al nodded gratefully.

"Don't do anything I _would_ do because Doc Evans is far too good at predicating escape routes from the hospital," Ed scowled a little. "One of these days I _will_ figure out how to escape without being caught," Ed vowed as Al scoffed.

"Yeah, right, Brother. You're not allowed to hospitalised for the next three months, remember?" Al reminded him and Ed shrugged.

"I can try after that, can't I?" Ed said cheekily as Al rolled his eyes once more.

"How about you don't?" Al said like it was a previously unthought-of concept. "Go and get the journals, Brother. I'll be fine here," Al said, making a shooing motion. "Thanks for the books, by the way," Al hastily added when he realised he hadn't thanked them yet, eyes already roving the titles and reaching for his first choice.

"Thank Mustang after we get him out of that cell. I stole them from him, remember?" Ed told him before waving to Maria and Brosh. "See you later, guys. Let us know if you want me to send a couple of the others to give you guys a proper break," Ed said, worried about his friends.

"Don't worry about us, Ed. I have every faith you guys will have this solved soon. Besides," Maria smirked a little, "it's not like we're not used to babysitting a hospitalised Elric for days on end," she teased.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll see you later," Ed said as he rolled his eyes at them while ignoring Al's muttered 'she's got a point' in the background.

"Bye, Ed. Bye, Reid," the two soldiers called as Ed and Reid walked out the room, calling back goodbyes of their own before the door shut behind them.

"Are you going to call for a new car or are we walking?" Reid asked as they made their way down the hallway.

"Nah, we'll see if Codd's there first then decide what to do. He might've finished whatever he was doing early," Ed told him and Reid nodded. Ed exchanged greetings with a few of the nurses who walked past them and a janitor who was cleaning the hallway before waving to Carol – the nurse who'd greeted them when they entered the hospital – and making their way outside. "Oh good. He's back," Ed said, nodding to the car waiting only a couple of spaces away from the one it had been parked in an hour earlier.

Sergeant Codd spotted them exiting the building and immediately got out of the car, opening the back door and offering Edward a salute as soon as Ed reached him. Ed waved the salute away as he and Reid got in the car and the door was shut behind them. "Are you heading back to Central Command, sir?" Codd asked once he was back behind the wheel.

"No, there's been a slight change of plans," Ed told him before giving him Hawkeye's address. "We shouldn't be too long there, but then we'll be going back to Central Command."

"Very well, sir," Codd said and started the car, heading for Hawkeye's apartment. Edward sighed at the use of his title but didn't comment. He had resigned himself to the fact that he would never be able to convince the entirety of the lower ranks of the military to call him by his name.

* * *

The drive to the apartment only took a few minutes and Codd had barely parked the car before Ed and Reid climbed out. "We should be back in just a few minutes, Sergeant," Edward told him.

"Take your time, Sir. I'll wait here until you return," Codd assured them.

"Thanks!" Ed called as he and Reid jogged up to the building. Edward led the way up to the floor of the building where Hawkeye's apartment was located.

"Have you ever been here before, Ed?" Reid asked.

"Yeah, a couple of times," Ed told him. "Al and I have helped her carry her shopping up here before when she's had too much to carry alone. We also helped her carry some furniture that she couldn't handle by herself. Those were some of the few times when Al and I were actually glad that Al was –" Ed suddenly cut off abruptly as he realised what he was saying. "Yeah. We've been here a few times," he finished flatly.

Reid was confused by the sudden change in Ed's demeanor, but he decided not to ask. He felt like he knew Edward well enough to know that the teen would just clam up even more tightly. Instead, Reid used the final few minutes before they reached Hawkeye's apartment to try and figure out what was upsetting his friend.

"Miss Rebecca? It's Edward Elric and Doctor Reid," Edward called as he knocked on one of the doors. Reid blinked, not even realising that Edward had stopped in front of that particular door. He could hear the sound of someone walking over to the door. There was a momentary pause before the locks disengaged and the door opened enough for Rebecca's face to be seen.

"Edward? Has something happened? Did you find Riza?" Rebecca asked and Edward shook his head apologetically.

"No, I'm sorry, we still haven't found her. But we did manage to get a lot of really good leads from the Chambers' case files, and we have a sketch of the woman who attacked Al and kidnapped Captain Hawkeye." Reid got the hint and pulled the sketch out of his bag. He held it up for Rebecca to look at.

She studied it for a moment before shaking her head reluctantly. "I'm sorry, Ed. I don't know her." She sounded upset that she couldn't identify the woman.

"That's alright. Hopefully Mustang or someone else on his team will recognise her, but even if they don't, we have other avenues to look at to try to figure out who she is. Actually, that's part of the reason that we're here," Ed told her.

Rebecca gave them an intrigued look, but opened the door fully to let them in, closing it behind them once they had both stepped into the apartment. The moment she shut the door, there was the sound of nails scrabbling on the floor and Ed grinned as Black Hayate appeared at a run.

"Black Hayate, settle down!" Rebecca cried as the small dog jumped up against Ed's legs excitedly.

"Hey Hayate. Have you been behaving yourself for Miss Rebecca while your mistress is away?" Ed asked the energetic little dog, crouching down so he could ruffle his ears fondly. Hayate yipped and licked his hand once before moving onto the new human.

"Good dog," Reid said, as Hayate sat down politely in front of him, raising a paw to ask for a pat. It was something Hawkeye had trained Hayate to do when he'd only met someone once or twice before. Reid obliged the little dog by stroking his black fur gently.

"So what's going on, Edward? What's the other reason for you being here?" Rebecca asked as Edward straightened up again.

"We spoke to Mustang about what happened last night and about what the woman told Al while she was fighting him. After we told him what Captain Hawkeye said to Al, Mustang came up with the idea that this woman could be a disgraced ex-apprentice of Captain Hawkeye's father," Edward explained. "He told Havoc and JJ that he saw Captain Hawkeye pack up a set of brown leather journals that her father wrote for her when she was born, and we think there could be a chance that he wrote down the names of his apprentices in there, which means that we might be able to identify this woman that way."

Rebecca nodded slowly. "So you're here to get the journals?" She looked a little torn between letting the two of them take the books and stopping them from invading her best friend's privacy.

"I'm going to ask the consultants to read the journals, rather than Mustang's team," Edward told her. "They'll be leaving after we get Mustang out of trouble, but we have to keep working with Captain Hawkeye after they leave, and she probably wouldn't want us to know everything about her past." He shrugged a little self-consciously. "I figured that Captain Hawkeye would prefer that."

"She would," Rebecca told him after a moment. She gave him an approving smile that caused Ed to flush a little. "I have to go and take Black Hayate for a walk since I have an appointment at Central Command during his usual walking time that I won't be able to reschedule. If you're gone before we get back, lock the door behind you. I have a key." Hayate started wriggling and jumping excitedly at the mention of a walk and would barely stay still long enough for Rebecca to clip his leash on.

"We will. Thanks Miss Rebecca," Edward said, bowing a little as she headed for the door.

"I hope the next time I see you, you'll have found Riza," Rebecca told him with a hopeful smile.

"I hope so too," Edward replied. "We'll bring the journals back as soon as we're done with them," he promised. Rebecca gave him a short nod and left the apartment, Hayate following obediently along beside her.

"So where does Captain Hawkeye keep the journals?" Reid asked.

Ed shrugged. "Havoc said that Mustang told him they would be in her bedroom on a bookshelf that wouldn't have anything else on them. I've never been in her room, but I'm gonna guess that it's through there," he added, pointing to the open door Hayate had come running through when they arrived. Considering that this was a small apartment and there weren't any other doors leading out of the kitchen/living room, it seemed to be the only option.

Hawkeye's room was tidy and tasteful, but Ed hadn't really expected anything else, considering her brutal efficiency in managing the team. He hadn't known what to expect about how everything would be decorated, but what he saw fit her perfectly. There was a large bed with a simple wooden frame in the center of the room with a dark purple bedspread and matching pillowcases. A pair of simple, matching tables flanked both sides of the bed, with simple lamps to provide light. One table held an alarm clock and the book Hawkeye was currently reading – which wasn't one of the journals they were looking for, unfortunately – and the other had a few framed photographs.

Hayate had a small bed in the corner of her room, between the bedside table and the wall, but Ed thought he could see a few black and white hairs on the bedspread that indicated that sometimes Hayate was allowed up there. The room also had a wardrobe, a dresser with four drawers, and a small vanity table with a mirror hung on the wall behind it. The top of the vanity had a hairbrush and a limited collection of makeup. A basket next to the door contained some toys for Hayate to play with. The final item in the room was a bookshelf whose shelves were stocked completely with books, with the exception of the topmost one. That shelf held a dozen thick journals with brown leather covers trimmed in gold. There weren't enough journals to fill the shelf completely – there was actually enough space for another four or five books, but it seemed Hawkeye had dedicated that shelf to the journals only.

"I'm going to guess these are the journals Mustang was on about," Edward said as he crossed over to the shelf, not noticing that Reid was still standing by the door and didn't join him. He reached up and pulled the first one off the shelf, noting the gold-trimmed cover and letters 'R.H.' pressed in the bottom right hand corner of the cover.

"Hey, Edward, could I ask you something I've been wondering about for a while now?" Reid asked hesitantly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Sure," Edward said, not really registering what Reid had asked, as he was more focused on the journals. He would be lying if he said he wasn't tempted to open the journal and start reading, but he resisted the temptation, mainly since he valued his life. He just _knew_ that Hawkeye would be able to tell if he read one when he had promised the others that only the BAU team would read them. He was fairly certain that Hawkeye was psychic like that.

"You – um, you lost your arm and your leg trying to transmute your mother back to life, didn't you?"

The journal fell out of his hand, hitting the floor with a loud _thud_ as he spun to face Reid, who looked both apologetic and determined.

"What the _fuck_ did you just say?" Edward hissed, his golden eyes flashing dangerously. Reid kept moving his hands like he wanted to start twisting them together nervously, but he kept forcing them back to his sides so he wouldn't give away just how scared he was by Edward's reaction and expression.

Reid swallowed nervously. "It's the truth, isn't it? You didn't lose your limbs in an ordinary alchemy accident. You and Alphonse tried to bring your mother back to life using forbidden alchemy, and it rebounded like the Philosopher's Stone that Harding had did, didn't it?" The agent's tone was gentle and soft, but determined.

Edward felt his left hand tremble violently and curled both of them into fists in an effort to control the shaking. He could feel the fingers of his left hand rubbing roughly against the material of his glove as they dug into the softer flesh of his palm. He couldn't feel anything with his right hand, but he could hear the muffled tap of metal against metal, reminding him even as he tried to block out the memories of what had happened, like his own body was mocking him.

"Ed?" Reid's voice sounded slightly panicked, and Edward realised that his breathing was becoming rapid and erratic. He saw Reid moving towards him, one hand extended, mostly likely to try and calm him down from his impending panic attack, but Ed wrenched himself out of reach.

"Don't touch me!" He meant it as a warning, knowing that his normal reaction to being touched in this situation was to lash out physically, but the surprised jerk Reid gave indicated that it had come out much harsher than he had intended. He felt his right knee trembling and, knowing there was no point in trying to fight off the panic attack and the weakness his own body was causing him, he allowed himself to fall gracelessly to the floor.

He immediately pulled his knees to his chest and leaned his forehead against his forearms in an effort to block anything that might distract him from getting his erratic breathing and heart rate under control. He squeezed his eyes closed, but it didn't keep him from seeing the memory of Al's body being torn apart by the black hands or hearing his little brother's screams. Beyond the sound of Al's screams echoing in his ears, he thought he heard Reid sit down and something being dragged a short distance.

Reid didn't say anything else. He wasn't sure how long he sat there, huddled up into a miserable ball as he used the techniques he'd taught himself to try to suppress his panic attack, but eventually he got himself back under control. He stayed curled tightly in on himself for another thirty seconds before he slowly raised his head and met Reid's gaze. He swallowed hard a few times to try to moisten his throat. "H-how'd you figure it out? I've never told anyone other than those I know won't or can't tell anyone else." Shame at that admission caused him to tuck his head back into his arms, not wanting to see the expression on Reid's face. He was too scared that he'd see disgust, hatred, or anger, and he was afraid he'd lost the agent's friendship forever.

"Honestly? It was just a guess," Reid admitted softly. "Ever since the first time we met, you've always emphasized that human transmutation isn't possible. But there was something about the way you would say it that made me think you knew that from personal experience. You've also always been vague about how you got your injuries, always just saying that it was an accident with alchemy. You clam up, like you did when we were walking up the stairs whenever you almost reveal something about Al."

He hesitated for a moment, before he continued laying out the evidence. "You also told us that you survived a rebound as big as Harding's when Hotch and Morgan wanted to call the fire department. When we were speaking with Doctor Knox, he mentioned that Mustang's vision was taken from him as his price for passing through the Gate of Knowledge when he performed human transmutation on the Promised Day. Al explained a little more about it after we got back to the office. He told us that he, you, your father, and your teacher had seen Truth before and had been deemed sacrifices for the country-wide array. He also said that you gave up your arm to create an array that kept him alive for five years after you performed a transmutation that should have killed both of you."

Edward had to admit to being impressed once again by Reid's memory and his ability to put seemingly random pieces of evidence together to realise that there was more to the story than he and Mustang had revealed in the past.

"You told us when we first met that your mother died when you were nine, and that part of the reason you joined the military was so that you would be able to support yourself and Al. Admittedly, I don't know a lot about alchemy or the really advanced transmutations, but I figured that you and Alphonse must have tried to transmute _someone._ Given how much you obviously loved your mother, I realised that if you had tried human transmutation for any reason, she was the only logical choice." Reid fell quiet for a few moments. "The only thing I can't figure out is what exactly happened to the two of you that would have required you to create an array to save Al's life, if it only cost you your leg, since you said you gave up your arm to save Al."

Ed let out a low, humourless chuckle. "Losing my leg was nothing compared to what happened to Al, and giving up my arm was a small price to pay if it meant saving his life," he said bitterly. The anger towards Truth was still as fresh as it had been when the magnitude of what they'd done and the unfairness of how Truth split their payment hit him properly. "Al suffered the most out of the two of us, and it wasn't fair, because the whole situation was my idea and my fault."

He took a deep, shuddering breath to calm himself down again and, when it didn't work immediately, he did it again and again. With each breath he took, however, he felt something like resolve hardening within him and realised that he was only a few moments away from revealing his darkest secret to Reid, even if the agent had guessed most of it. He remembered how much lighter he'd felt when he'd told Shiro and Black about his nightmares. Somehow, he knew that of the entire BAU team, Reid would have been his first choice of who to share this with.

Reid seemed to sense the decision that Ed was coming to as well. "Ed, you don't have to tell me. I just want you to know that I'll listen if you want to. I shouldn't have brought it up now, while you have so much on your plate helping Mustang." The agent's voice was quiet, almost a whisper. "The others are always telling me that sometimes I ask the right question at the wrong time."

"I – I think I need to," Ed admitted as he swallowed a little convulsively. "I don't really _want_ to, but I think I _need_ to."

"Have you ever told anyone else by choice?" Reid asked, a little cautiously. He didn't want to push Ed into talking about this with him; especially if there was someone else he could talk to who was closer to him than they were.

"Yeah. I mean, Granny and Winry know because they are the ones who patched me up and tried to clean up all of the evidence of what we did, but they couldn't get rid of everything. Mustang and Hawkeye saw what was left of the transmutation circle and confronted us while I was recovering." Reid felt a small flare of annoyed indignation at Mustang and Hawkeye for interrogating two injured children so soon after they went through something like that. "I told the rest of the team and," Ed cleared his throat again, "Lieutenant – I mean, Brigadier General Hughes. His wife Gracia knows too, but I haven't told their daughter Elysia. I'll probably tell her when she's a _lot_ older. Other people have guessed and the homunculi always knew, so they don't really count. The Lions of Voltron know because I told Shiro and Black, but I forgot to block the other four while I was telling them. Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh know, and so do both of the Armstrongs. I think that's everyone who knows the whole story and is still alive."

"You still don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Reid assured him.

Ed felt his resolve harden. He never ran away from a decision once he'd made it, and this time was no exception. "No, I want to tell you. Everyone's always telling me that talking about it will make it easier for me to deal with, plus you were smart enough to figure it out just from the tiny hints I never meant to give. You were also brave enough to ask me about it. But it's not a pretty story, so if you don't want to hear it, I wouldn't blame you," Ed warned him.

Reid considered for a moment before he nodded. "You said this will help you, and I already told you I'm willing to listen. That hasn't changed in the last couple of minutes," Reid assured him.

Edward took another deep breath. "Okay." He paused to think about where to start. "I guess it really starts with Hohenheim, our bastard of a father. He always seemed really distant with Al and me once I was old enough to realise it. He would work late into the night in his study, and there were times when he seemed really reluctant to touch us or be around us. One morning, when I was five, Al woke me up really early, and when we went downstairs, we saw our mum and Hohenheim standing at the front door, with Hohenheim dressed for a trip and a suitcase in his hand. We looked up at him and he just glared down at us, before he turned and walked away without even saying goodbye. That was the last time we saw him until I was sixteen and Al was fifteen."

He paused again, seeing the sad expression on Reid's face and wondering where it had come from. "After that, Mum just always seemed really sad. She would sometimes look out the window really longingly, and she had to raise Al and I alone. Al and I were too little to notice all the signs, but there were days when she seemed to tire more easily and had more and more trouble getting out of bed each day. But she encouraged us in our study of alchemy once she realised that we understood it, and sometimes watching us performing transmutations was the only thing that made her happy. One day when I was eight and Al was seven, she sent us to the store to get some things she needed for dinner. We got home and found her collapsed on the floor, unconscious. I sent Al to get Granny and just stayed sitting beside her, waiting for him to come back. Al came back with Granny and a couple of our neighbours and they helped get Mum into bed before someone went to get the doctor."

He continued the story, telling Reid about the days preceding Trisha's death, how each day she seemed weaker and paler, until her health deteriorated enough that she could no longer lift her arm to stroke his and Al's cheeks. "We didn't know what to do to help her. Finally, I thought that maybe, if she could see Hohenheim again, it might help her recover. Al and I wrote letters to every single person in his address book, hoping that someone would know where he was and could get a message to him that we needed him at home, but he never bothered to return before she died."

"We spent all day sitting at her grave on the day of her funeral, hoping that he would still somehow have received one of our letters and would turn up, but he never did."

"Ed," Reid said quietly, sounding like he wanted to sympathise, but Ed didn't want to be interrupted now.

"A couple of weeks later, we decided to try the impossible. We were going to figure out a way to bring Mum back. We were going to be the first ones to successfully bring someone back."

He explained how they spent nearly a year reading every book on alchemy they could get their hands on before they met Izumi and begged her to be their teacher. He told Reid how she only took them on after stranding them on an island in the middle of a lake, alone, trying to figure out the riddle she gave them and learning to survive. He talked about her harsh methods of teaching, how it wasn't just alchemy, but also hand-to-hand combat. "That was when we realised that I was better at alchemy than Al, but he was the better fighter. We trained under her for almost two years before we left Dublith and went home because Al wanted to celebrate his tenth birthday with Granny and Winry. We had decided that we had learned enough about alchemy and we knew that our father's journals had notes about human transmutation."

A fresh surge of anger towards Hohenheim for leaving those books where he and Al could find them flared up. He described the months they spent reading all of Hohenheim's books to make absolutely sure they had all the information available to them. "Al started to wonder if we should be doing this, since Teacher had made it clear that it couldn't be done, that it was impossible, but I assured him every single time. I promised him that if he felt like we shouldn't do it when we had read everything that we wouldn't. Finally, we decided we were ready."

He told Reid about how they spent the day before the transmutation. How they went through their fighting sets, went for a walk into town to stock up on food for their mother, how they spent the afternoon scrubbing every inch of the house from top to bottom and fixed everything that needed fixing so their mother wouldn't come home to a dirty house. He told Reid about how their excitement and nerves were so intense, they'd felt nauseous as they carted the things they needed into the basement. Ed told Reid about how they drew the array perfectly, going over every millimeter with a scrutinising eye, making sure there wasn't a speck of chalk where it shouldn't be before putting the carefully measured ingredients into a container in the centre of the array before taking their positions on the outside of the array, being extra careful not to touch the lines so they didn't smudge before they were ready to transmute.

He paused to take a deep breath. "Ed, you don't have to –" Reid started, but Ed shook his head, quieting the agent. He could feel his voice growing hoarse, but he didn't move to get anything to drink, intent on getting through the next part without stopping. If he quit now, he probably wouldn't be able to start again.

"Our excitement was actually creating this electricity in the air, or that's how it seemed. We double checked the journals. Al still wasn't sure about it, but after looking at everything again, he agreed that we could do it. It felt like the whole house was holding its breath when we activated the array. The blue light came immediately, dancing along the array and converged on the ingredients in the center. It swirled around us, ruffling our hair and our clothes. There was so much energy there we could almost taste it, and we just knew we were about to be the first alchemists in history to ever successfully transmute a human." He scowled, remembering what had come next. "In the space of a single breath, everything changed. The alchemic energy changed from blue to an ominous purple and we realised immediately that it meant the transmutation was about to rebound, but we couldn't have stopped it even if we wanted to at that point."

He described the terror of watching the alchemic energy mimic a massive windstorm inside their basement, grabbing loose papers and light journals and tossing them around the room, hearing the windows rattling so hard Ed was surprised the glass held as long as it did. "The next thing I remember was feeling this incredible pain and looking back behind me and seeing my left leg disappearing at the knee. My blood pooled out where my lower leg and foot should've been, but then Al screamed."

Ed then told Reid that the pain of watching and feeling his leg was nothing compared to watching as tiny black hands appeared from the array and tore his brother apart in front of him, watching the terror and fear and pleading for Ed to save him in Al's eyes as Ed fought back the bile and pain to reach desperately for his brother. He described feeling Al's fingertips brush his before he completely disappeared in front of his eyes, leaving only Al's clothes behind. He told Reid about the fact that he never noticed his missing leg or that the alchemic windstorm had died down because his brain was trying to comprehend everything he'd just seen.

Then he described his first visit to Truth. How he still had both legs and felt so small and exposed in the white world of Truth. He told Reid about the conversation he had with Truth, how Truth just grinned when he demanded to know where he was, where his little brother went. He told Reid about the trip through the Gate of Knowledge he took, how he had all of this knowledge crammed into his head, struggling to take and understand as much as he could before he saw his mother standing there, almost within arm's reach before he was ripped away from her just before he could touch her. He told Reid about the elation of realising his and Al's theory wasn't wrong, that they'd just missed something and demanding Truth to let him back through. He told Reid about the chills that ran down his spine when Truth laughed and chided him for wanting more than what he'd paid for before indicating to his legs when Ed demanded to know what price and that's when he'd understood the true price.

He felt his eyes tearing up, but he didn't fight them. The memory was too emotional, and there wasn't any point in fighting it. "The next thing I knew, I was back in the basement, papers strewn everywhere, rain coming in through the broken window. There was so much pain from where my leg should have been, but that was nothing compared to the realisation that I just got Al killed." He brought his left hand up and wiped his face violently. "I was screaming, _begging_ for someone to help me, to give me my little brother back. The light from the transmutation faded, and I looked at the center of the circle, thinking that if Mum was there, at least she would help…but then I saw _it_." He refused to look Reid in the eyes at this point. "I can't even describe how horrible the sight was, but it still haunts my nightmares. It…it was just a twisted, mangled corpse, blackened and bloody, and it reached out for me with a raspy breath right before there was this horrible squelching noise and I watched its arm fall off."

Reid started to say something else, but Ed plowed forward with the story, explaining how he spotted the armour their father had kept in the basement and got an idea. He described the torturous army crawl he made towards the armour before he knocked it down and dragged it so he had access to the part of the armour that covered the back of the neck. He told Reid of the desperate deal he made with Truth as he used his own blood to paint an array on the inside of the armour, telling Truth it could have whatever it wanted so long as he got Alphonse back before he clapped his hands and activated an array that was supposed to be impossible to successfully transmute for the second time that night. He then told Reid about how he remained conscious long enough to realise his right arm was gone and to see the armour move on its own. He told Reid that the last thing he heard before he passed out from the blood loss and exhaustion was Al's confused voice calling for him from the armour and knew he'd successfully bonded Al's soul to the armour.

"I woke up in Granny Pinako's house. Al had bound my wounds as best he could in the clothes he had been wearing when Truth took him and carried me in through a massive rainstorm in the middle of the night to Granny's home so she could save my life," Ed was nearly rasping at this point and feeling suddenly tired. "Granny and Winry patched me up while I was still unconscious. I didn't wake up for two days, which Granny used as an excuse to head for our home and do what she could to rid the house of evidence of what we did. I woke up and told Granny about what we did since Al could only remember bits and pieces and a few days later, Mustang and Hawkeye found us. Mustang demanded to know what happened and upon realising it was me and Al who committed the taboo, offered me a job when I was healed," Ed finally finished speaking and leaned his head against the bedside table he'd collapsed against and waited for Reid to finish processing what he'd just told him.

He almost jumped out of skin when barely a minute later, Reid spoke up. "I can't pretend to understand what you went through since nothing that's happened personally to me even comes close, despite the horrible things I've seen since I joined the BAU. I won't give you pity or sympathy because you don't want that," Reid said slowly, like he was trying to think about how to word what he was thinking, "but I will say that I think you and Al are incredibly brave and that anyone would be lucky to have a brother who would sacrifice their arm or carry their bleeding sibling in the middle of a rain storm so they could save their life. I knew the two of you had been through a lot but I didn't realise just how much you had been through." He paused for a moment. "I am really sorry if I caused you any pain by asking," Reid said, eyes showing just how sincere he was and Ed's jaw dropped when he realised Reid had been crying while Edward had been talking, but he never noticed.

"You didn't," Ed assured him. "In fact, I feel a little – I don't know – lighter, I suppose, now that I've told you. I'm surprised you've taken this so well," Ed commented honestly.

"What do you mean? How'd you think I'd react?" Reid asked and Ed shrugged a shoulder before paying close attention to his gloves when he answered.

"Figured you'd be mad or horrified. Maybe disgusted that I pushed Al into doing something like that," Ed told him, mumbling the last point, half-hoping Reid wouldn't hear him but his luck had never been that good.

"I _am_ horrified that the consequences of your actions were so severe and so heavy handed to Alphonse but I'm honestly just grateful you and your brother survived, something I doubt he would have done had you not bound his soul to the armour," Reid pointed out. "I'm also going to point out something I'm sure you've heard from just about everyone who you've told but you're not solely to blame for Al's injuries. You said it yourself, Al was there and he willingly placed his hands on the circle so he carries some of the blame for it," Reid told him and Ed almost rolled his eyes because Reid was correct about having heard that from everyone.

"Yeah, I know. I'm getting better at letting go of carrying some of the blame but I'm the older brother. It was my job to make sure he stayed safe and alive and because of one decision that I should've never suggested, I almost failed at my duty as a big brother," Ed told him.

"I'm an only child and the youngest person on my team so I don't know what it's like being a big brother. The others treat me as a kid brother, or at least Morgan and Prentiss do, so I kind of know what it's like being a little brother," Reid told him. The agent looked uncomfortable for a moment, before straightening up and taking a deep breath of his own. "A couple of years ago, we were called in to investigate a case where people were being killed inside their own homes and the unsub was claiming that he was on a mission from God to kill sinners. The unsub, Tobias Hankel, had suffered a psychotic break when he murdered his abusive father. As a result, he developed dissociative identity disorder, and basically had multiple personalities inside his head. One was himself, one was his father, Charles, and the third took on the identity of one of God's avenging angels, Raphael."

He paused and Edward saw him swallow convulsively for a moment. "JJ and I went out to interview Hankel because he had reported seeing a prowler outside the first victims' house a week before they were killed. He denied ever filing the report, which made me suspicious, and I peeked in his window and saw that he was using his computers to spy on several people. I realised that he was the unsub, but he saw me looking in the window and ran. JJ and I split up to try to find him, since he was living on an isolated farm with corn fields all around the house. JJ went around to the front of the barn, and I went to the back. JJ suddenly screamed and I started to head back to try to find her when he came out of nowhere and held me at gunpoint. He knocked me out, put me in his truck, and took me to an even more isolated cabin miles away from his home."

Edward was horrified by what Reid was describing, but the agent didn't stop long enough to give him a chance to say anything. "The police officer who was in charge of the case recognised some very vicious dogs that were in the video of the third murder that Hankel posted online. That led them to the farm, looking for me and JJ. They found JJ had been forced to kill the dogs, but they couldn't find me and JJ didn't know where I was. We called Garcia, asked her to come out and tear Hankel's computer apart, but while she was working on it, Hankel connected to the system and showed the team live video of me. He forced them to watch while the personality that was his father tortured me. Then he forced me to pick someone out of half a dozen people he was watching with their own computers to save before he left me alone and went to kill someone else. When he got back from committing the murder, he realised that Garcia and a former teammate of ours, Gideon, stopped the video of the murder from going out onto the internet. He was so angry that he hit me hard enough induce a seizure, and I died."

Ed gasped in shock and could feel tears welling up at the thought of what his friend had gone through. Reid gave him a watery smile before indicating he wasn't done. "I don't know exactly what happened, but the Tobias personality revived me before the Raphael personality told me I needed to pick one of my team members to be killed. I refused at first but then came up with a desperate plan to help the team find me, since they were still watching what was happening on the computer. I picked Hotch and I said it was because Hotch was a classic narcissist who thought he was better than everyone else on the team. Then I misquoted a verse from the Bible, hoping that Hotch would remember that we'd argued the previous week about what a classic narcissist was. I used the quote from the Bible to let the team know that I was being held in a cemetery, and Hotch realised it as soon as he looked up the real quote. They found me just before the Charles personality killed me." Reid took a deep, shuddering breath to get control of his emotions. Even though it had been years, Tobias Hankel still haunted him.

"Reid, I'm so sorry that happened to you," Ed whispered, horrified that someone could hurt someone as kind as Reid in such a horrible way. But he was still a little confused about why Reid had told him that. Did he think he needed to tell him about something bad that had happened to him just because Ed told him about the human transmutation?

Reid's answering smile was watery. "Thank you Ed, but I do have a reason for telling you this. Hotch and Gideon were the ones who ordered JJ and me to follow up with the report Hankel filed with the police. JJ agreed that we should split up and try to trap Hankel in the barn until the rest of the team came to find us. Both of these actions put me in the position I'd been in that allowed Tobias to kidnap me, and all three of them blamed themselves for what I went through. JJ refused to leave my side while I was recovering in the hospital and both Hotch and Gideon visited me every day. Afterwards, the entire team treated me like they were trying to make up for me getting kidnapped and for not being able to find me sooner because I'm the youngest member of the team and it was their job to make sure I was never in a situation that dangerous."

Edward thought he could see where Reid was going with this, but he couldn't bring himself to interrupt the agent.

"Even though I was the one who made the suggestion to split up on that farm, even though I followed the order to go out there in the first place, all of them thought that the fact I was kidnapped and the injuries I suffered as a result were on them," Reid told him, pointedly making eye contact with Edward so that the teen couldn't miss what he was saying. "It hurt me a lot, knowing that they were blaming themselves for something that I'd also unwittingly had a hand in at the same time they were assuring me that it wasn't my fault. Though I would never want to go through something like that again, I also wouldn't want any of them to go through it either. In a twisted kind of way, I'm actually glad that it was me and not JJ or whoever else Hotch and Gideon would've sent if I refused to go," Reid admitted. "I would be surprised if it wasn't the same for Alphonse. He might wish that he'd never spent five years as a suit of armour, and he might wish that the two of you hadn't activated that array, but I would be willing to bet that he's glad that you didn't do it by yourself. I think both of you know that if you had done that transmutation alone, you wouldn't have survived, and Al wouldn't have had the knowledge you gained by going through the Gate to bind your soul. In the same way that I'm glad that Tobias kidnapped me, I think he's probably glad that he decided to place his hands next to yours on that array and he probably hates the fact that you're still taking most of the blame because you think you broke your duty as his big brother."

Ed would be lying if he tried to claim that he wasn't a little stunned by Reid's words. Up until that moment, he could honestly say that he'd never considered that Al might be grateful that he went through the array rather than leaving Ed to do it by himself. They both knew that Ed's stubbornness would have made certain Ed went through with the transmutation. He'd never considered that Al would've preferred living as a suit of armour for five years over whatever would've happened to Ed if Al hadn't helped him activate the array.

"Thanks, Reid," Ed whispered. Those two words didn't say everything that he wanted to say, and yet somehow they did.

Reid gave him a small smile before climbing to his feet, giving Edward a chance to scrub at his face to rid himself of any lingering evidence that he'd been upset. After a moment he reached down to help Ed back to his feet. Ed looked at the agent's hand for a moment before using his left hand to grab it and allowed Reid to pull him up.

"You're welcome," Reid said before turning to the journals they were supposed to be collecting. "We should probably grab those and get back to the car. We did tell Sergeant Codd we'd only be a few minutes and he might start getting worried soon," Reid told him. Ed pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time, realising that Reid was right. They'd been sitting on the ground for at least twenty minutes, but it was probably much longer. He was more than a little surprised that Rebecca hadn't returned with Black Hayate yet.

"We probably shouldn't be seen carrying them in case we're being watched," Ed said as he looked around the room, shoving his watch back into his pocket. He reached up and grabbed half of the journals before heading out to the kitchen area. Reid grabbed the rest, including the book Ed had dropped earlier, and followed.

He watched the blond place his load on the table and rifle carefully through Hawkeye's kitchen before coming up with two grocery bags made of cloth strong enough to carry several books. He handed one to Reid and they filled the bags with the journals, carefully packing them to minimise the risk of the bags somehow tearing as they carried them. Once both bags were packed and all the journals were accounted for, they left the apartment, locking the door behind them as Rebecca requested. They didn't say anything to each other but the air between them was comfortable and both of them could feel just how much stronger their friendship was now.

"Fullmetal, Sir!" Codd called as he spotted them and Ed gave him a wave.

"Thanks for waiting, Sergeant Codd. Sorry we were a little longer than expected," Ed said as they reached the car. Codd opened the door for Ed and Reid before closing it up behind them.

"All good, Sir. Are you heading back to the base now, Sir?" Codd asked, climbing back in behind the wheel.

"Yes, thank you, Sergeant," Ed said. Codd nodded before starting the car and driving them to the base. Ed met Reid's eyes and gave him an honest, happy smile that he was pleased to see returned in full.

* * *

"Chief!" Havoc greeted cheerfully when Ed and Reid walked through the door. Everyone else looked up and greeted them either verbally or with a smile and nod of their head.

"Hey," Ed greeted back as he put the bag he carried on the desk in front of JJ before heading for his own seat.

"How's Alphonse?" Fuery asked once Ed had sat.

"He's good. Happy to have some books to pass the time now," Ed told him. "I'm sure Havoc already told you, but Armstrong was able to produce a sketch of the unsub though he, Ross and Brosh didn't recognise her," Ed told them. Reid handed Ed the sketch and Ed passed it to Havoc, who looked at it before passing it along, eventually making a full circle and returning to Ed.

"I'm fairly certain I've met her," Falman admitted, face pinched in thought. A fissure of excitement went through the group, and Edward tensed. Falman had an amazing memory. Could it be that simple? "I don't think I was actually introduced to her though," Falman told them and Ed deflated a little. He knew for certain that if Falman had been told her name, he'd be able to tell them. Falman wasn't one to forget someone's name, even if they only met once.

"No one else recognised her?" Ed asked but Breda, Havoc, Fuery and Sheska shook their heads. Ed hadn't expected the BAU to know her so he wasn't surprised when they didn't say anything. "Okay, we'll just have to keep looking for her identity," Ed said, wondering who he should ask to take the sketch to Mustang because he didn't really want to go see him right now. Not after telling Reid about that night and feeling as emotionally raw as he currently did.

"Ed?" JJ called and Ed nodded at her and felt like he wasn't going to be getting his wish from the way JJ winced, like she knew what she was about to tell him would upset him. "Mustang asked Havoc and I for a favour. He wanted us to ask you to go see him, just you by yourself, so he can apologise," JJ told him and Ed couldn't stop the disbelieving snort even if he wanted too.

"Mustang wants to apologise to me? Sorry, JJ, but you must've heard wrong," Ed told her, stubbornly refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

"Chief," Havoc's voice was filled with understanding so Ed had to meet his eyes, "trust me, I heard what he said yesterday and I heard what he said today when he asked us to pass along that message to you. He really does want to apologise, as unbelievable as that seems," Havoc told him and Ed felt annoyed at how easy it was for his resolve to not have to see Mustang's face until after they got him released melted at Havoc's complete belief in his own words.

"Fine. I'll go see the bastard but don't blame me if he gets hit again," Ed grumbled and Havoc grinned before clapping him on the shoulder.

"I'll hold him in place for you if he does something he'd deserve getting punched for," Havoc huffed.

"Good. I'll head there now than. Get this out of the way," Ed groaned as he stood up once again. He ignored the way the others had been grinning or nodding in solidarity at him and Havoc.

"I'm going with you," Morgan said, climbing to his own feet as Ed gave him and JJ a confused look.

"I thought you said Mustang wanted me to go by myself?" Ed asked JJ and she nodded.

"He did but we decided we weren't taking any chances so Morgan is going with you. He'll wait at the sign in desk," JJ told him.

"I am perfectly capable of getting to the holding cells by myself, you know," Ed grumbled and JJ nodded in agreement.

"Of course you are but I'll worry about you so please let Morgan go with you? As a favour to me?" JJ asked, looking at him pleadingly while several people tried not to laugh at the obvious manipulation.

Ordinarily Edward would have refused out of sheer stubbornness, but he met Reid's eyes and the memory of what Reid had told him came to the forefront of his mind, particularly the part about Reid being kidnapped because he went off alone. With that information fresh in his mind, he sighed in resignation, before nodding.

"That's playing dirty, JJ," Ed told her and she gave him a blinding smile.

"I know. Make sure you don't kill Mustang," JJ said, shooing them towards the door. "If you aren't back by dark, you two are on dinner duty!" she added as they left the office. Ed waved over his shoulder to show he'd heard before the door closed behind them.

"Well played, JJ," Havoc said, impressed. All of Mustang's team nodded in awe. JJ gave them a smile before gesturing pointedly at the work still in front of them.

A movement and flash of gold caught JJ's eye and a quick glance confirmed that Reid had now sorted the journals in chronological order and was now scanning the pages of the first one. JJ was quick to follow her own silent order and got back to the work she still had in front of her as the office fell back into near complete silence.

* * *

Morgan and Ed arrived at the holding cells quicker than Ed would have preferred. They didn't really talk about whether or not Morgan thought Mustang was serious about apologising and Ed hated to admit that he was hopeful that was really the only reason Mustang asked for him to come see him. Havoc and JJ certainly seemed convinced that the apology wouldn't be some kind of cover for something else.

"I'm sure you both know the procedure by now," the soldier manning the sign in desk commented dryly as he pushed the folder towards them. Ed flashed him a grin as he picked up the pen.

"It's just me going through to see him this trip. Mr. Morgan is staying here," Ed explained when the soldier pushed the folder towards Morgan was Ed had finished signing his name. The soldier raised a brow but didn't question any further.

Morgan gave Ed's flesh arm a squeeze and gave him an encouraging and reassuring smile before lightly shoving him towards the waiting guard when Ed hesitated for the briefest of moments. The guard didn't comment and soon enough, they were heading down the familiar path to Mustang's holding cell. They got about halfway when Ed had a realisation.

"Oh, hold up a moment," Ed said as he stopped and started rifling through his pockets. The guard looked a little wary but came to a stop just in front of him. Ed made a victorious noise when he found the sketch he'd stuffed into his pocket. "Do you recognise her?" Ed asked, smoothing the paper a little and showing the guard the sketch.

"I don't think so, Sir," he told him after looking at it for a moment. "I can tell you for certain she's not been arrested and held here in the last six months," the guard offered, trying to be helpful.

"Thanks anyway," Ed said, putting the sketch back in his pocket a little nicer than he had last time. The guard gave him a nod before they continued on their way.

Ed made sure his face stayed as carefully blank as he could make it when the familiar cell came into view. He hated how nervous he was. It was ridiculous! It's not like yesterday was the first time he and Mustang went for each other's throats. _But it was the first time since their first interdimensional trip_ a traitorous little voice in his mind pointed out. Ed told that little voice to fuck off just as Mustang came into view.

"Would you mind opening the cell and letting me in, please?" Ed asked the guard before Mustang could say anything.

There was the hesitation Ed had expected but the guard did as he asked before Ed had to threaten to destroy the gate as expensively as possible again. Ed thanked the man with a nod before stepping into the cell to join Mustang. Ed took the moment to observe the man and was surprised to see hints of guilt and regret etched onto his face and in the way he held himself. There was a rather spectacular bruise on his right side of his jaw and the area was slightly swollen. Ed felt a little bad. Even though it had been his flesh hand, Ed hadn't held back his anger, allowing it to determine just how much weight he put behind that blow. The guard locked the cell once more and moved away from the door to where he'd be within hearing distance but far enough away that Ed and Mustang had some privacy.

"You were right, Edward."

The teen wasn't sure what made him jump exactly; Mustang admitting that Ed was right or Mustang calling him by his first name.

"When I lose control over my temper, I do turn into a monster." Ed knew the shock this time came from Mustang referencing their final fight against Envy. In all honesty, Ed had never been sure how much of what he and Scar had said in those moments while Mustang had been lost in his rage had been heard by the man in question.

"'Turn into an asshole' might be a little more fitting," Ed told him, leaning against the wall opposite where Mustang was sitting on the edge of his cot and crossing his arms protectively over his chest, not meeting Mustang's eyes.

"Well, I can't really argue against that because it's true," Mustang chuckled self-deprecatingly. "I am sorry, Ed. What I said to you yesterday was the result of me lashing out because I was angry at myself for not realising someone was framing me and taking more precautions before I was arrested. My failure to take those precautions meant I was trapped in here while two people I care about were attacked and one was taken. I lashed out at you because you were the one who told me. I'm not trying to make excuses," Mustang told him, "because there is no good excuse for what I said but you deserve to know why I said what I said and you deserve to know that I didn't mean a single word I said. I am truly, genuinely sorry and I am willing to spend as long as I have to trying to make it up to you," Mustang told him and Ed blamed the fact that he told Reid about what he and Al did for the fact that his eyes watered so easily. That talk had obviously made him far too emotionally vulnerable.

"It's not a big deal, Mustang. Don't worry about it," Ed told him as he blinked a few times to rid himself of the tears that he was in no way ever going to let fall in front of Mustang right now. Because of this, he missed the way Mustang was looking at him; like he was resigned to the fact that Ed would play it off as no big deal and sad that that was Ed's automatic response to this kind of situation, to play it off as if it really wasn't a big deal. "It's not the first time we've been at each other's throats, and I'm sure it won't be the last."

"It _is_ a big deal, Ed. I blamed you for Hawkeye being kidnapped when I know full-well that had you been there, chances are that woman would be in custody or in the hospital. If you hadn't been able to capture her, I know you would've done your damnedest to take Hawkeye's place." Mustang realised his voice had taken on a pleading note and was surprised at how much he didn't care that Ed heard it. "That's not even taking into account what I said about Maes."

His face fell even further at the flinch Ed gave at the mention of Hughes' name. "I know how much his death affected you and Alphonse and I know you still struggle with the fact that you were in absolutely no way responsible for what happened to him. I knew all of that and I used it against you in the worst way possible. I had no right to say what I said and to blame you for something you had no control over," Mustang told him, keeping his usual indifferent mask tucked away and allowing himself to show emotions he normally wouldn't have. Ed shifted slightly, showing his discomfort with this situation and that made Mustang a little sadder.

"Seriously, Mustang, I don't care anymore so don't worry about it," Ed told him and Mustang barely managed to hold in his sigh at the attempt of deflection.

"If you truly didn't care, Edward, you wouldn't be avoiding eye contact with me," Mustang pointed out softly, watching as what little of Ed's cheeks he could see flushed pink. Mustang wanted to push this even further but he also knew that right now, he was in a precarious situation with Ed. If he pushed his apology too much, it wouldn't matter how genuine he was being, Edward wouldn't buy it. At the same time, he needed Ed to know just how sorry he was but he just didn't know how to go about doing that, other than apologising every time he saw the blonde. For the moment, the only other plan he had was to let Edward take the lead in this meeting and talk to Alphonse at the earliest opportunity and hope the younger Elric knew what he should do.

When Ed realised that Mustang was waiting for him to do something, Ed half-panicked and decided to move onto something far less emotional so he grabbed the sketch out of his pocket and handed it to Mustang. "This is the woman that Al said attacked her. Major Armstrong, Miss Maria, Brosh, your team and every other soldier I've shown it to hasn't recognised her. Do you?" Ed asked, resisting the urge to fidget at the look on Mustang's face as he took the sketch.

"I think she holds the rank of Major," Mustang said as he stared at the sketch. He would be lying if he said he wasn't mildly disappointed but completely unsurprised that Ed decided to avoid the subject completely. "I don't remember her name but she was one of those who were promoted because of all the officers who died on Promised Day. You were with Al at the hospital that day, but I was at the ceremony. It was the one Grumman held about a month after the Promised Day to present all of the promotions as well as make his public debut as Führer. I remember seeing her accept her promotion from Grumman but I didn't catch her name," Mustang admitted.

Ed remembered the ceremony he was talking about. He hadn't attended because Al was way too frail to go and he didn't want to leave his brother alone. Plus, he hadn't been receiving a promotion that day, so he'd stayed with Al while Mustang and the rest of the team attended. He remembered Havoc and Breda complaining about how long it had been and how boring the next time they'd come to visit Al.

"Actually, now that I've seen what she looks like," Mustang said, frowning a little and drawing Ed's attention back to him, "I think I've seen her around." His face was thoughtful for a moment and then his frown deepened. "No, now I'm certain of it. I've seen her a lot, but she never did anything to draw my attention to her, so it's possible that she's been around even more than I realised."

"Like where?" Ed asked, curiously. If Mustang could remember seeing this woman following him home, for example, maybe that could help prove their stalking theory.

"She's delivered the team's paperwork a few times over the past few months," Mustang told him and Ed felt his hope for this being proof of her stalking behaviour slipping away a little. "She must be stationed with a team or offices close by ours because I've seen her in the hallway several times. The few times I've braved the mess hall food, for coffee or lunch, she's been in there as well. I've noticed her following me off base on nights where I've had to stay behind later than expected too," Mustang told him when he noticed Ed about to ask.

"Did she ever follow you home or did you ever see her outside your house at all? Even just walking past it?" Ed asked and Mustang shook his head.

"No, I never noticed her before because she's never done anything like that. I've only ever seen her in places that didn't arouse my suspicions enough that I would've even noticed her, let alone remember seeing her," Mustang told him.

"Well, if Captain Hawkeye's journals turn out to be a bust, I can always go and ask Grumman for a list of everyone he promoted to Major during that ceremony then cross-reference that list with the lists we got from Granger's team," Ed said as he took the sketch back and put it in his pocket once more. "I actually might do that anyway. It would just be one more piece of evidence that we can use to identify her."

"You already got the journals?" Mustang asked, eyebrows rising in surprise.

"Well, yeah. When Havoc rang the hospital to tell me, Major Armstrong had already done the sketch and Reid and I didn't have anything more to do with Al so we headed straight to the captain's apartment. Reid's probably reading through the journals as we speak," Ed told Mustang, one of his brows quirking in a way that Mustang knew meant that Ed thought he was asking something dumb. Mustang couldn't even find it in himself to try and put up an offended look at his tone; he was too grateful that Ed was feeling comfortable enough to give him a bit of attitude.

"I would've thought you would've been glued by Alphonse's side. That seems to be the typical Elric response when one brother is hospitalised," Mustang drawled, feeling himself slip back into his usual banter with the eldest Elric. He still knew he was nowhere near forgiven – by himself or Edward – but he was grateful to see that maybe their relationship might not be as irreparable as he first feared.

"Al's fine. The doc is really only keeping him because this is the first time he's been knocked out since being released from the hospital after recovering from Promised Day and they're worried about how his body will handle it. Plus, he'd kick me out if I tried to stay with him while Captain Hawkeye is still missing, even if I wanted to," Ed told him and Mustang nodded in agreement. Alphonse _would_ do that for certain.

"I'm glad to hear Alphonse will be alright. I'm sorry I didn't think to ask about him last night," Mustang took the offered opportunity to apologise for something else he'd felt guilty over; not asking after Alphonse the previous night.

"Yeah, well, we figured you would've been more worried about Hawkeye when you got told so it's fine. Al said to say hello, by the way," Ed told him and Mustang nodded in thanks. There was then a minute or so of silent awkwardness before Ed cleared his throat. "If you don't have anything else to say or ask, I'm leaving. Reid will likely be done with the journals now," Ed said, straightening up off the wall he'd leant back against once he'd taken back the sketch.

"Actually," Mustang's voice stopped Ed from summoning the guard over, "there is something else I wanted to discuss with you." Ed settled back against the wall but Mustang was happy to see that while his arms were still crossed against his chest, they were more relaxed and Ed was making eye contact once again, though his expression was still mostly closed off.

"Well?" Ed asked, forever impatient, when Mustang didn't immediately tell him the thing he wanted to discuss.

"I told you about where my teacher hid the key to flame alchemy after he destroyed all of his notes. He couldn't handle destroying his life work completely so he tattooed the key on Captain Hawkeye's back so that she alone could decide who to trust enough to pass along the secret to his life work to." Ed nodded, a little confused about why Mustang was repeating this. "What you didn't hear was that after the Ishvalen Civil War, Hawkeye came to me and asked me to destroy the key."

It didn't take much longer than a couple of seconds for Ed to realise what he meant. "You burned it off her back, didn't you?" Ed asked, voice cast low, so low Mustang almost didn't hear him. Now everything made sense. Hawkeye had said something during the fight with Envy that Edward had heard, but not really registered at the time, considering everything that had been going on that day.

"_This fight will be my last. Once all of this is over I'm going to end my life, and remove my secrets of flame alchemy from the world."_

If he'd only remembered that sooner, he might have been able to predict that Hawkeye would have been a target for this killer. Edward cursed himself silently. There was so much that they all could have done to help stop this situation before it had gone this far.

"Yes. I burned a section of the tattoo away," Mustang confirmed, seemingly unaware of Edward's internal self-flagellation. "When she asked me to, she told me it was because she never wanted to witness her father's alchemy being wielded like that again. She never wanted to see it destroy so many lives again so she came to me to make sure no one could," Mustang told him and Ed wasn't entirely sure he could identify what he was feeling as he imagined Hawkeye asking Mustang that and him agreeing.

"Why are you telling me this?" Ed asked, a little irritated that he still didn't know why Mustang was talking about the secret to his fire alchemy or why he was telling him something that not even a full day ago, he'd wanted Ed and Havoc to leave so they wouldn't hear any of this.

"Because, Edward, if there was ever anyone that Hawkeye and I could trust with her father's and my legacy, it's you," Mustang told him, making sure he kept eye contact with his subordinate. Because of this, he was able to witness Ed's golden eyes widen in complete shock, a rare event since it was nearly unheard of for someone to do something that Edward never expected. "That's why I'm going to teach you the secrets to flame alchemy," Mustang told him but Ed was already shaking his head.

"Mustang, if this is some manipulation tactic to try and get me to forgive you for what you said yesterday so your conscience can be clear or something, _don't_," Ed snapped. Mustang noticed the younger alchemist was shaking almost as badly as he had been yesterday just after he'd punched him in the jaw and Mustang swore internally. Of course Edward would immediately jump to the conclusion he did.

"Edward, stop," Mustang ordered, wincing at how, once again, his tone came out much harsher than he intended but it had the desired effect. Mustang got a glimpse at Edward's golden eyes, swirling with uncertainty, anger, confusion and a spark of hope that maybe he was wrong before he cast them back to the floor. "You know how guarded I am when it comes to my alchemy. _You know that_. So why would you think I would tell anyone the secrets behind it just so I wouldn't feel bad because of something I said to them?" Mustang asked and Ed looked torn between believing his point and thinking this was a sick joke. "While I do feel bad – and I likely always will – for what I said, I wouldn't be offering you this if Hawkeye and I didn't trust you _completely_." He emphasized the word as much as he could and felt his heart clench when Ed's next breath was shaky. "This isn't something I would take lightly nor would Hawkeye. I want to teach you fire alchemy because I know you would never let yourself use it the way I did," Mustang told him and _finally_ Ed met his eyes again, "and I also think it might be somewhat poetic for you to go up against that woman, wielding the alchemy Master Hawkeye refused to teach her," Mustang told him with a smirk that was more hesitant than he would've liked but Ed let out a weak chuckle and Mustang averted his eyes when Ed reached up to wipe his face.

"Are you sure?" Ed asked, voice shaky as he couldn't contain all of his vulnerability and fear but Mustang nodded so confidently that Ed couldn't help but believe him.

"Absolutely," Mustang said, gesturing with his head for Ed to join him on the cot and was relieved when the teen did so without any hesitation.

He laughed when Ed produced a pair of his gloves, telling him how Hawkeye had managed to smuggle them to Al when she checked on him before the woman ordered her away from him. Trust his captain to always carry a spare pair of his gloves. Moments later, Mustang found himself the teacher of a very eager student, trying to explain fire alchemy as best he could in as little time as possible so Ed could get back to the office and the investigation as soon as possible. He was just grateful that Ed was such a quick learner.

A/N - Here's chapter 20 for all of you! I know a couple of you were angry at Mustang for his reaction so I hope his olive branch to Ed is enough for you guys to start thinking about forgiving him yourselves. As always, all my thanks to my beta, PhoenixQueen, who has put so much effort into beta-ing this story and is doing such a fantastic job, especially since I keep distracting her with requests for her opinions on some things for future chapters of Spirit Animals. To those few of you who have bothered to leave me a review or inbox me your thoughts, thank you so much :D To everyone else who is reading this story, I'm asking for you to please leave me a review telling me what you think. Authors rely so much on knowing what those reading their stories think to them and I am no exception.

See you next week!


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty One:**

Morgan glanced at the clock on the wall, wondering what could possibly be taking Edward so long. According to the time, he'd been sitting in this chair for almost three hours. Since JJ had only said that Mustang wanted to apologise to Ed, he couldn't begin to imagine what sort of apology would take almost three hours. He had expected that Edward would want to get in, hear Mustang's apology, show him the sketch, and then get out again as quickly as possible.

The sound of the secure door leading into the cells had him looking up and spotting Edward exiting the corridor with the guard holding the door open from him. Morgan rose from his chair and joined the teen just as he was signing out with the Sergeant manning the desk. Edward nodded a goodnight before waving at Morgan and heading for the door. He noticed immediately that the alchemist was in a much better mood than he had been upon their arrival at the cells, but out of respect for Edward and the fact that he knew Ed wouldn't want to discuss his mood if he was within earshot of people that he didn't know well, especially under the current circumstances, he refrained from asking any questions until they were out of the building and crossing the wide open courtyard, heading for the main building again.

"Well, what happened? You seem a lot more cheerful," he asked, lightly rapping Ed's right shoulder with his knuckles as they walked. The metal of his automail had a muffled ring to it given the layers of clothing between it and Morgan's hand.

"Yeah, well, it turns out that Mustang learned how to apologise somewhere, because he offered me a really good one," Edward replied, his voice light. Morgan could hear just how much the apology had affected the teen and how far it had gone towards mending the damage Mustang had unwittingly caused. "He must have been taking notes after speaking to Princess Allura when we were with the Paladins," Edward added.

"Good. I'm glad he apologised properly, because if he didn't I'd have to have words with him again," Morgan answered with a grim smile.

"Admit it, you just wanted to punch Mustang too," Ed teased. "Don't worry, I don't blame you for it, since I understand that urge all too well."

Morgan laughed. "Well, you _did_ get to hit him."

Ed's laughter was uplifting. "Yeah, even though it only took me almost six years to have an excuse. Mustang's lucky I didn't do worse. My self-control in that kind of situation is normally nonexistent."

"So, how _does_ one go about apologising to the mighty Fullmetal Alchemist, the People's Alchemist?" Morgan asked. "I just want to have a strategy in place in case I ever do something to get on his bad side," he joked.

"You'll have to wait until we get back to the office because I'm not risking someone overhearing us out here and the others should know what he said as well," Ed told him. Morgan wanted to roll his eyes but resisted somehow. The glare Ed gave him told Morgan he hadn't been as successful in hiding his desire as he thought he had been.

"Speaking of the others, we were ordered by the true leader of our joined teams, JJ, to get dinner before we came back. Any suggestions?" Morgan asked and Ed hummed thoughtfully.

"We should probably get something quick and easy to eat. As much as I'd prefer something else, the quickest option would be sandwiches from the mess," Ed admitted and Morgan sighed.

"I guess that will work with everyone, despite all the complaints I've been hearing from Havoc and Breda about the food in the mess hall." Ed nodded sympathetically before leading them towards the mess to grab sandwiches and drinks for everyone before stopping suddenly. "What is it?" Morgan asked, immediately alert and looking for danger.

"Actually, we should go to Grumman's office right now," Ed told him. "Mustang didn't recognise the woman in the sketch by name but he did recognise her as someone who was promoted to the rank of Major in a ceremony Grumman held a couple of months after the Promised Day. Grumman should have a list of everyone he was promoting and the ranks they were to receive so I want the list of people who got promoted to Major so we can cross-reference it to everything else."

Morgan thought about it for a moment and realised that even if the others had figured out the woman's identity while they were gone, this list would just be used to confirm her identity. At this point, Mustang needed all the confirmation that he could get if they were going to successfully get him out of this situation.

"Alright, let's go see the Führer," Morgan said, throwing his free arm over Ed's shoulders and drawing the blond into his side. Edward started struggling immediately, but neither of them said anything about the fact that Ed's struggling to get free was just for show, as they both knew that it would be easy for the alchemist to extract himself if he really wanted to.

* * *

Morgan _did_ eventually let Ed wriggle free from his hold but not until the doors to Führer Grumman's office were in view. Ed gave Morgan a half-hearted glare that caused Morgan to respond by ruffling the blond's hair and letting out a bark of laughter at the squawk Ed made in protest. Of course, Ed stopped his laughter by elbowing him sharply in the side before gracefully moving out of the way of any retaliation.

"Stop your shit," Morgan ordered and grinned at the muffled squeal of disbelief Ed made.

"You started it!" Ed said defensively.

"What are you, three?" Morgan laughed as Ed glared at him before flipping him off. Morgan didn't get the chance to do much in response because Ed immediately turned away from him to open the massive wooden doors.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Elric, I gather you're here to speak with Führer Grumman?" Samantha asked as soon as she realised who was in the office.

"Yup. I doubt we'll be even five minutes," Ed told her since Samantha hesitated in allowing them through. Of course, Ed could've just barged through the doors but that would be rude and Ed figured Samantha likely had a good reason for not immediately following Grumman's standing orders for him or Brookes to be allowed permitted into his office the moment they show up, no matter who was in there or what the Fuhrer was doing.

"All right. Although I feel I should warn you that Generals Widdon and Combes are in there right now. Apparently, they weren't happy to find out that their orders for Mustang to no longer be permitted visitors had been overturned last night," Samantha told them. Ed looked a little confused.

"How come it took them all day to find out what happened?" Ed asked, curiosity smothering his need to get the list and get back to the office as soon as he could.

"Oh, no, they found out almost as soon as they reported to their offices this morning but the Führer was extremely busy today and hasn't had the opportunity to talk with them until now, no matter how much they insisted that their matter was extremely important," Samantha told them and Ed and Morgan might've taken her answer at face-value except for the fact that Samantha's lips kept twitching like she was fighting a grin.

"If I promise that I won't start something, can I go in? I promise, I will be in and out unless Grumman needs to ask me something," Ed told her, giving her only a weak version of his puppy eyes. The flat look she gave him in response told him that she knew what he was trying to do but she shook her head in amusement.

"You can go on through. Führer Grumman did say that you and Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes were to have unobstructed access to his office and I'll ignore any screaming I hear," Samantha told him, waving him towards the door.

"There's a reason you're one of my favourite people, Samantha," Ed told her as he reached the doors to the inner office. Samantha chuckled as she returned to her work while Ed threw the doors open dramatically. "Evening, Führer Grumman," Ed greeted politely with a salute that Grumman waved him out of, ignoring the indignant splutters of his two least favourite generals as he and Morgan approached the Führer's desk.

"Good evening, Lieutenant-Colonel Elric, Mr. Morgan. What can I do for you gentlemen today?" Grumman asked, covering his amused grin behind a hand.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Elric, how dare you just barge into the Führer's office? Do you lack even the common courtesy to knock first?!" General Combes snapped, outraged. Ed rolled his eyes so Grumman saw but neither general did.

"Lieutenant-Colonels Elric and Brookes both have standing permission that grants them entry into this office to speak with me, no matter who else is in here," Grumman informed Widdon dismissively. "I assume there is some kind of development in the case or your search for my granddaughter?" Grumman asked, turning his attention to Ed and Morgan and ignoring Widdon and Combes completely, leaving the two men to seethe in silence.

"Yes," Ed told him. "As you know from my phone call from the holding cells last night, we were there to speak with Mustang. Thank you for overturning those ridiculous orders, by the way, Sir," Ed said politely but grinned when Combes practically growled at him. "What are you, a dog? Where are your manners?" Ed sniped, looking over his shoulder to actually look at Combes for the first time upon them entering.

"Don't bother, General Combes," Grumman ordered. His voice hardened instantly with his next words when Combes looked as though he was going to retaliate. "You and General Widdon are dismissed with a reminder about the terms of our initial agreement we made when I signed the arrest warrant for General Mustang. He is to be given the same allowances as every other prisoner in those holding cells, including the right to visitors. If I find that you have behind my back and disobeyed my direct orders one more time, you will be punished accordingly. Now, get out of my office," Grumman ordered and the effect was immediate.

"Please, please, give Führer Grumman a reason to ask me and Morgan to escort you out because that is one order I will happily and enthusiastically follow," Ed snarled over the noise of the two generals' protests. Morgan stood in a stance meant to intimidate next to Ed with a very unimpressed look on his face.

He could see Widdon and Combes actually seemed to be considering protesting further, but after a moment they made the only move that wouldn't end badly for them. They saluted the Führer and turned smartly on their heels before marching out of the office and slamming the door shut behind themselves. Just before the door closed, however, they all hear Samantha sweetly wishing them a good evening.

"What drama queens," Ed muttered, stifling his laughter before he turned back to face Grumman. "I kinda wish that they hadn't left as quietly as they did," he admitted.

"I believe that you were in the middle of telling me something, Edward," Grumman reminded him, dropping the need to address those in the room by their titles.

"Right, so, once we were able to get into Mustang's cell last night and informed him of what had happened, he actually made a decent suggestion as to the cause of this nonsense," Ed told him. "When we asked him why Captain Hawkeye would tell Alphonse that it had to do with her father, Mustang realised there was a strong likelihood that the woman behind all of this is a disgraced former apprentice of your son-in-law. He thinks that it's possible that she took the captain because she believes that Captain Hawkeye knows the secrets behind flame alchemy," Edward explained.

"But my granddaughter doesn't. My son-in-law destroyed his research before he died so the only one who does know those secrets is General Mustang," Grumman was confused, and Edward could understand the confusion. After all, why would anyone expect a non-alchemist to know how one of the rarest alchemies worked, even if that person was the daughter of the alchemist who invented it?

"We know that, but Mustang informed us that almost no one knows that his teacher destroyed his research in the end so it's possible this woman believes that Captain Hawkeye has access to the notes and took her to find out where they are hidden," Ed explained. "At lunchtime today, Major Armstrong paid my brother a visit so he could sketch the suspect for us. When I visited Mustang to show him the sketch, he recognised her but couldn't recall hearing her name. What he did recall is that she was promoted to Major during the ceremony you held after Promised Day. We're hoping you kept a list or something of the people you promoted and whether you'd let us have the names of every woman who got promoted to Major on that day?" Ed asked and Grumman nodded.

"Yes, Samantha helped to organise that ceremony, and I believe that she separated those I was promoting into groups depending on the rank they would be promoted too. I believe I had Samantha file them for me in case they would be needed again in the future," Grumman told them. "I'll have her check for me," he said, lifting the phone up to call his secretary. After a brief conversation where he explained what he needed, he hung up the phone. "She'll pull the file for you and have it waiting at her desk."

"Thanks, Grumman," Edward said. "I know this is an unusual request, since Mustang's team isn't in Investigations."

"Thank you for asking, Edward," Grumman said. "I assume, of course, that you plan on letting Lieutenant Colonel Brookes know about these developments?"

Edward nodded. "Yes. Morgan and I were going to go and swing by his office on our way down to the mess hall to get dinner for everyone and see if he's there. We'll need his team's help once we identify this woman."

"Very good. I expect to be kept in the loop as well," Grumman reminded him and Edward nodded again, immediately.

"Of course, sir. We'll let you know about every development that we come up with," he promised and Grumman nodded.

"Is there anything else you need, Edward?" Ed shook his head and Grumman gestured to the door. "Then you're dismissed. Don't worry about visiting Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes tonight. I'll have Samantha call him and send him to you. I'd prefer it if you got back to this without any more detours," Grumman told him and Ed gave him a thankful smile.

"Cheers, Führer Grumman. We'll see you later," Ed said, giving another salute that Grumman released him from immediately. Morgan nodded respectfully, a gesture that the Führer returned before the two of them turned and left the office, pulling the door closed behind themselves, much more politely than Widdon and Combes had.

"Here's the file you were looking for Edward," Samantha said, indicating a folder on her desk.

"Thanks, Samantha. Could we have the list of those who were promoted to the rank of Major on that day?" Edward asked, and she nodded, opening the file and paging through it for a moment before she extracted two sheets and handed them over.

Edward took the sheets and scanned them immediately. There were a lot of names, but at first glance only a handful of them were women, which wasn't surprising since the number of female soldiers in the military was far less than the number of men, so the number of those being promoted would be correspondingly less as well. "Thank you, Samantha. I'll make sure you get this back when we're done with it," he promised and she nodded.

"Is that everything that you needed, Edward?" Samantha asked.

"For the moment, yes. I think the Führer's going to call you again in a moment," Ed smiled at her. "Have a good night."

"You do the same, Edward. Have a good night, both of you," Samantha said just as the phone rang. Edward and Morgan saw themselves out while Samantha spoke with Grumman.

"Mess hall?" Morgan asked once they shut the door behind them. Ed's stomach rumbled as he nodded.

"Mess hall."

* * *

Morgan and Ed cleaned out the mess of sandwiches and bottles of juice and water and were laughing as they entered the office ten minutes later. Reid was still nose-deep into one of the journals but Ed was pleased to see that, based on the stack next to the agent's elbow, most of them had already been read, with only the one he was currently reading and another one to finish up. Everyone else seemed to have tackled the notebooks and each person had a piece of paper under their writing hand and an equal pile of notebooks near them.

"How's it going?" Ed asked as he and Morgan walked over, Morgan kicking the door shut behind them, and placing the bags containing food and drinks on the desks.

"Good. Spencer has been reading the journals you brought back with you and marking down the names of any person who's mentioned who isn't a family member. The rest of us have gone back through the notebooks and added to the lists that Lieutenant-Colonel Granger gave us. Mainly just of people who could fit the basics of the description Alphonse gave us; women, alchemist, and would be in their mid-to-late thirties now," JJ told him with a thankful smile as she reached for the food.

Her movements seemed to make everyone else realise there was food and soon enough, the food was all gone. Morgan had grabbed a sandwich and an orange juice for Reid and put them near him so he wouldn't miss out, chuckling fondly at the genius as he did so. Reid didn't even twitch during their dinner until he finished the journal he was on. Placing it down, he went to grab the next and noticed the food and bottle of juice next to the last journal, causing him to look up sharply and notice that everyone else was either nearly done or already done with their dinners and most of them were looking at him with amusement.

"Sorry, got caught up," Reid grinned sheepishly. "Thanks for the food," he said as he grabbed the sandwich, looking at both Morgan and Edward.

"No worries. Find anything interesting in them?" Ed asked, nodding to the journals Reid had finished reading.

"Actually, yeah. Berthold Hawkeye only took on female apprentices, or only took them on when Captain Hawkeye was born. The first male apprentice he mentions after she was born is Mustang," Reid told them in between bites of his dinner.

"Well that makes sense," Prentiss said. "She was his only daughter. He wouldn't want to take the risk that one of his apprentices might try take advantage of a young Riza," she pointed out. "By the time he took on Mustang, I imagine Riza was at an age where she could handle herself if anyone paid a little too much attention to her."

"How many apprentices did he have?" Hotch asked. Reid glanced at the list.

"It looks like he took on a new apprentice within a year of the last one finishing with him. In total, he had ten apprentices that he took on before Mustang," Ed frowned at that.

"Ten?" Ed asked and Reid nodded. "How old was Captain Hawkeye, roughly, when Mustang was taken on as an apprentice?" Ed asked.

"From what I could tell in the journals, she was about fifteen," Reid told him and Ed frowned.

"Ten in that amount of time seems like a lot," Ed said, a little disbelieving.

"How so?" Rossi asked, glancing at Edward.

"Alchemy is a complicated art," Edward explained. "Most people don't have an aptitude for it, which I think I explained the first time we all met." The agents all nodded, remembering that conversation. "Of those who do, most aren't prodigies like Alphonse and I, so even learning the basics can take a long time, as well as a lot of work. Al and I were apprenticed with our Teacher for about two years before she allowed us to leave her care, but we had also been teaching ourselves since I was four and Al was three, so we already knew a lot of the basics."

"Couldn't Berthold Hawkeye's apprentices also have learned the basics before apprenticing to him?" Hotch asked, and Edward nodded immediately.

"Of course. Most alchemists won't take on just any student. Of all the alchemists who will also teach, most of those I've met require a certain level of accomplishment before they'll even consider taking on a student. But, like I said, Al and I were prodigies and we learned quickly. It didn't take us very long to get to a level where Teacher felt that she could trust us not to get ourselves killed by doing something stupid." Reid spotted the brief flash of guilt and shame that crossed Edward's face, but a quick glance around told him that while none of his teammates seemed to have noticed, Mustang's team did, judging by the looks on their faces.

Ed had continued, and Reid forced his attention back to his friend, "…so when Al told her that he wanted to celebrate his tenth birthday with Granny and Winry, she decided that we had learned enough to leave her and get real-world experience. "If Hawkeye took on ten apprentices in – what, fifteen years? – that means he would've been keeping them on for barely more than a year each and that doesn't really seem right to me. The odds that he would find that many women who were also alchemic prodigies, and better than Al and I are astronomically improbable."

"Some of them weren't kept on long at all," Reid told him. "The second girl he took on as an apprentice suffered an unfortunate accident and had to leave his tutelage to return home to recover only a year into her apprenticeship. Another's parents could no longer afford his fee and she couldn't cover it herself so she left after six months. The last apprentice Berthold Hawkeye took on before Mustang only lasted about seven weeks," Reid told Ed, who looked a little surprised at the last one.

"What happened to her to make her leave?" Ed asked, curious as to why someone would leave their teacher only a handful of weeks later. He and Al had been convinced Teacher was going to murder them in their sleep for the first four months under her tutelage after they got back from the island, but that didn't make them leave.

"The journal didn't really say much. From what it does say, Captain Hawkeye had been at her grandparents' place for the summer holidays. This woman, Leah, arrived a day or two after Captain Hawkeye left on the train and left a week before she was due back," Reid told him. "Berthold Hawkeye didn't go into detail but it seemed that a week or so before he expelled her, Leah became obsessed with flame alchemy and asked her teacher when he thought she would be ready to learn it. Hawkeye goes on to write that he informed Leah in no uncertain terms that he would not be teaching anyone the art of flame alchemy unless they have proven their worth. From that point until the point she was expelled, Leah became completely volatile and ended up demanding Hawkeye to teach her the alchemy, saying that she deserved it more so than anyone else and if he didn't, she would take it for herself. Hawkeye informed her that she had shown her true colours and that she was no longer his student and kicked her out of his house that day. He then made a point in the journal to tell Captain Hawkeye that this was an example of why ambition and a desire for power are dangerous." Ed looked stunned.

"Bloody hell, no wonder he kicked her out. My teacher wouldn't have been so nice." Ed looked disgusted at her behaviour before he froze for a moment, long enough for everyone to notice his strange behaviour. Havoc batted Morgan's hand away when he reached out to poke Ed to check he was okay and both of them jumped slightly when Ed unfroze and started digging through his pockets. Morgan recognised the papers he grabbed as the list of names Grumman had given him.

"What's that, Ed?" Fuery asked, looking at the paper with interest.

"I showed Mustang the sketch when I talked to him and Mustang recognised the woman as someone whom Grumman promoted during a ceremony held after Promised Day. Mustang said Grumman granted her the rank of Major but he never caught her name. He said that he's seen her a few times in the last few months but never thought anything of it because none of the times he saw her gave him any cause to be suspicious. Morgan and I went and saw Grumman before we came back here and he gave me a list of the people he promoted to major during the ceremony," Ed explained, waving the bit of paper. "This is that list," he said unnecessarily before looking down at it and scanning it. "There's a woman named Leah Belmont listed here. Did Chambers notebooks mention her?" Ed asked but he'd barely started asking when everyone immediately consulted their lists.

"Granger's list has a Leah Belmont written on it," Rossi said, holding up the bit of paper.

"Which notebook was she written in?" Ed asked and Rossi glanced at the paper again before scanning the notebooks in front of him and grabbing the one which was fourth from the bottom of his pile.

"Here," Rossi said, sliding it across the desks to Ed, who snatched it up immediately and rifled through the pages. It took him a few minutes of scanning but he finally made a victorious noise.

"Here it is," Ed said gleefully. "Chambers wrote that Leah Belmont was asked to demonstrate her skills as a wood and earth alchemist upon review of her application. He goes on to say that the arrays she used were simple enough that any earth or wood alchemist would be able to achieve the same or similar results, no matter their power level. Upon further review of her application, Chambers believed her to be almost obsessed with becoming a State Alchemist and the benefits that go with such a title and believed she would be a danger and hindrance to the military rather than a boon. He denied her application and she turned violent upon receiving the dismissal. She demanded he change his mind and permit her into the State Alchemist program or she would end him. Chambers had her escorted out of his office but continued receiving threats he believed were from her for a few weeks before they stopped," Ed summarised the incident for everyone. Just as he finished speaking, a knock interrupted any comments that would have been made and Ed jolted. "Enter," he called, fairly certain he knew who would walk through the door.

"Good evening, everyone," Brookes greeted, smiling at them all as he entered the room.

"Brookes, hey, good timing. You can pull military personnel files, right?" Ed asked before anyone could greet the Lieutenant Colonel. Brookes looked a little startled at the seemingly random question.

"Yes, so long as the soldier in question is currently stationed in Central. If the soldier has moved to one of the regional commands, their file goes with them to be handed in to the Investigations department there," Brookes told him and Ed's grin got even wider.

"Awesome. Can you go and grab the file for a Leah Belmont?" Ed asked, practically vibrating in his chair with anticipation.

"Sure. I'll be back soon," Brookes said, a little amused by Ed's behaviour. He exited the office and hurried to the personnel room near his office. He couldn't help this feeling that Ed might be on to something massive.

* * *

It didn't take Brookes long to find Leah Belmont's file, aided by the fact that her last name started with the letter "B". Once he had her file in hand, he headed right back to Edward's office. He'd guessed that Ed must've been onto something when Führer Grumman's secretary, Samantha, had called him a short while ago and asked him to head to Edward's office as soon as he could manage. He had been in the middle of reading a report and hadn't wanted to re-read it again later and Samantha hadn't said anything about it being urgent so he finished the report, signed off on it and headed for Edward's office ten minutes after the call.

He'd meant to pay the younger Lieutenant Colonel a visit ever since he'd been told about Captain Hawkeye's kidnapping and Alphonse's assault but he hadn't had the time to spare that day. He'd glimpsed Edward and Doctor Reid leaving just before lunch but he'd been on his way to a meeting and couldn't stop. By the time he was back in the office, he'd had a mountain of paperwork piled on his desk that needed to be finished so he'd resolved to drop by Edward's office once he was finished with it. He'd sincerely doubted Edward would be leaving the office until he'd uncovered a lead that would give him Captain Hawkeye's location. The phone call from Samantha had been a welcome relief from the seemingly unending pile of papers.

"That was quick," Ed said, looking surprised that the person he'd just admitted entrance into his office was Brookes.

"Her last name made things easier," Brookes told him, handing the file over to Ed's eager hands. He watched as Ed smoothed out a sketch of a woman and placed it on the table before flipping the file open to reveal Leah Belmont's military photo and lining the two images up side by side and let out an elated whoop.

"Tell me that that isn't her!" Ed crowed victoriously as everyone in the office gathered around him and looked at the images for themselves. Soon there were praises for doing a good job and whatnot filling the office, as well as slaps on the backs and more than one person ruffling Ed's hair.

"Would someone like to fill me in?" Brookes asked, effectively cutting through the celebratory noise and reminding them that he was still there and had no idea what was happening.

"We just identified the woman behind framing Mustang, kidnapping Miss Riza and assaulting my brother!" Ed told him ecstatically and Brookes felt like his brain was filled with static for a moment.

"Are you serious?" Brookes asked, dazed that they might have actually managed to find someone who had eluded him for two months in less than a week.

"You better sit down, Brookes, because we got a lot to catch you up on." Ed grinned, waving him over to the desks and Brookes once again found himself doing as he was asked by Edward.

* * *

"All of that happened in the last 24 hours?" Brookes asked incredulously after everyone had caught him to speed. He'd never admit it out loud but Brookes had a feeling that if Alphonse and Hawkeye hadn't been attacked, they likely would never have identified Leah Belmont in the time they had left. Hell, if he was being honest with himself, he wasn't sure they'd have been able to identify her before Mustang was facing the business end of a firing squad.

"Yup. Like I said, a lot has happened," Ed told him and Brookes nodded in agreement.

"All right. What do we do now?" Brookes asked, looking at Hotch for orders.

"You'll be with us to make the arrest when we catch up with this woman," Hotch told him, much to Brookes' surprise.

"Why am I the one making the arrest?" Brookes asked, interrupting Hotch before he could continue.

"Because that's how my team operates. Technically, you are still the lead investigator on this case so therefore, you will be the one to make the arrest. My team helps find the unsub; we don't take credit for their arrest away from the local law enforcement," Hotch told him.

"We discussed this when you went and got Belmont's file," Havoc told him. "Ed raised an interesting point. Who would get the collar?" Havoc said.

"My team was only granted permission to investigate the case but we were not given jurisdiction to arrest any suspects," Hotch told Brookes, "which means that none of my team will be assisting in the rescue of Captain Hawkeye nor the arrest of Major Belmont in any capacity other than securing the perimeter of the property where Captain Hawkeye is being held. Of course, if Major Belmont was to manage to avoid Ed's team and yours and tries to get through us, we would act in self-defense but we cannot arrest her," Hotch finished explaining.

"Like Hotch said; you're the lead on this case," Ed told him, "so the arrest will be yours. Besides, if Mustang's team made the arrest, you can bet that General Dick and General Asshole will chuck a tantrum over it, insisting we somehow fabricated the whole thing or blackmailed Belmont into taking the fall. If you make the arrest, they won't put up a fuss because then they'll have to answer a few uncomfortable questions," Ed smugly pointed out.

"'Uncomfortable questions'?" Brookes asked, not exactly sure what Ed meant by that.

"How long have you been working under them?" Ed asked and Brookes thought about it.

"Nearly two years now," Brookes said.

"In that time, have they ever accused you of not doing a good job?" Ed asked and Brookes shook his head. "Exactly," Ed beamed at him. Brookes was still confused. "Imagine what would happen if they accused you of going along with our nefarious plot to frame an innocent woman to try and free Mustang or if they accused you of not doing your job properly coupled with the fact that they've been irritatingly vocal about how guilty Mustang is. All I or someone else would have to do is ask them why they never raised their concerns with how you do your job at any time in the last two years if they were so worried about it or were they just trying anything they could to keep Mustang in jail," Ed explained and Brookes' eyes widened in understanding.

"You'd be forcing them to admit that they either lied about their accusations of me or that they were just trying to undermine the arrest so Mustang wouldn't be released," Brookes clarified and Ed nodded.

"Yup," Ed said. "You arresting Belmont will be the best chance we get at not having those two try to interfere." Brookes nodded in understanding.

"Alright. So what do we do now to find her?" He asked and Hotch took the chance to explain what he'd been about to before Brookes questioned why he would be the arresting officer.

"We need to know everything we can about this woman. Where she lives, who she works under, her hobbies and skills, etc.," Hotch told them. "Once we have all the facts, we can make a plan for the arrest."

"Our first course of action should be identifying just how much of a threat Belmont's alchemy is," Ed told them. "Just because her hand-to-hand and stealth skills leave a bit to be desired doesn't mean she isn't competent with her alchemy," Ed said.

"She took Al down in hand-to-hand so she must be pretty good," Havoc pointed out.

"Al isn't back up to his full strength yet. Unbelievably, Teacher was concerned that her usual teaching methods would do Al more harm than good so she hasn't been pushing him in training as hard up until a month or so ago," Ed told them. "Right now, I would beat Al in a strictly hand-to-hand fight. In a couple of months, I doubt I could claim the same thing."

"Wait, your younger brother could beat you in a fight?" Morgan asked teasingly. Ed shrugged nonchalantly.

"Al's always been better at hand-to-hand than me. I'm still an excellent fighter but Al is better. Just like how Al is also an alchemic prodigy but I still beat him at that," Ed told him before turning back to the rest of them. "If we know her alchemy and other combat skills, we can plan for them," he said.

"We can ask her commanding officer," Hotch said, nodding to Ed so the blond wouldn't think he was being dismissive before addressing everyone else. "I think it should go without saying but Major Belmont needs to be taken in alive, if possible. With how much effort and planning it took to execute this whole frame job, I'm almost certain Major Belmont would have written her research down and kept it somewhere safe but if she destroyed her notes or never made them in the first place, we will need her to give a confession so we can free Mustang," Hotch told them. "Belmont would only go down for the kidnapping of Captain Hawkeye and assault of Alphonse if we can't find evidence of her being the murderer or she's not alive to confess and Mustang will never be released," Hotch warned.

"So, who is Major Belmont's commanding officer?" Havoc asked and Brookes consulted the file on her.

"Colonel Joshua Rubio," Brookes told them. "She joined his team shortly after Promised Day. Her previous commanding officer was killed during the fight, as were three other members of her team. Colonel Rubio lost two members of his team during the fight as well, including the alchemist assigned to his team. Even though she wasn't a State Alchemist, Belmont was chosen as the replacement because of her alchemic talent and offered the promotion to Major at the same time," Brookes informed them.

"Wait, we theorised that the reason she waited until now to strike against Mustang and Hawkeye was because she was waiting for some self-assigned goal to pass, right?" Rossi asked suddenly before plowing on before anyone could answer. "We know she applied to be a State Alchemist and was refused so what if she decided that once she reached the rank she would've received automatically if she'd been accepted into the State Alchemy program, she would start planning her revenge?" Rossi asked.

"It makes sense. Mustang gets a lot of crap mainly because he's risen through the ranks so quickly despite his age. It is why Summers didn't like him, after all," Brookes reminded them. "He did get a big leg up because he was granted the rank of Major when he was accepted as a State Alchemist. Imagine Belmont's reaction upon being rejected by Berthold Hawkeye and later finding out that the very next apprentice he took on was taught the flame alchemy she thought she entitled to know. Not only that but she _then_ found out he was accepted in the State Alchemy program while she was rejected. Add on the fact that Mustang used his flame alchemy to get accepted and it's really no wonder she decided to focus all of her rage and hate on Mustang. Twice she was rejected for something that was immensely important to her and Mustang ended up being accepted for them," Brookes told them and was a little surprised at the slightly shocked expressions on some of their faces.

"You'd fit in on their team," Havoc told him, jerking his head towards the BAU and Brookes felt the tips of his ears turn red.

"Does anyone know if Colonel Rubio has left for the day?" Ed asked, diverting their attention from Brookes.

"I think so," Falman said. "Rubio normally finishes by 5:00pm so long as he doesn't have any pressing cases he's working on and I haven't heard anything saying he is."

"Do you know where his office is?" Hotch asked and Falman nodded. "Can you and Morgan go and check to make sure he is gone?" Falman and Morgan nodded in agreement before disappearing out of the door.

"Should we tell the Führer that we identified her?" Fuery asked and Hotch considered.

"Yes. We did promise to keep him in the loop so we should tell him," Hotch finally said. "Rossi, Havoc, would you mind heading up to the Führer's office and inform him that we have identified our suspect and warn him that we'll be coming up later for arrest and search warrants?" He asked and both men nodded before leaving just as quickly as Morgan and Falman had. "The rest of us should go over her personnel file and see what it tells us," Hotch told them, "though I want someone to go over the notes for the interview of Belmont conducted by Lieutenant-Colonel Granger's team," Hotch said and JJ raised her hand.

"I'll do it, Hotch," she offered and Hotch dipped his head gratefully.

"Thank you, JJ," Hotch said and she gave him a smile before she started sorting through their mess to find the interview notes. A thought occurred to Hotch in that moment. "Brookes, would the military still have the applications for State Alchemist hopefuls from ten or fifteen years ago?" he asked.

"I know we certainly kept the applications of everyone who was accepted into the program but I'm not sure about those rejected. I can head back to the personnel room and check now, if you'd like?" Brookes offered and Hotch nodded.

"Please. I'd like to read it and see what it says," Hotch said and Brookes nodded. "You can take Fuery with you," he told him. Brookes was a little surprised at the fact that he was being paired up but didn't argue. He just nodded and followed Fuery out the door.

* * *

"Lieutenant Havoc. Mr. Rossi, how may I help you?" Samantha asked once she recovered from her momentary surprise at having the two of them walk through the doors.

"Hello, Samantha, we need to speak with Führer Grumman. It's urgent," Havoc told her and she nodded.

"I'll let you through," she told them, getting up from behind her desk and knocking on the Führer's office doors.

"Enter," Grumman called out and Samantha did as she was asked.

"Lieutenant Havoc and Mr. Rossi here to see you, Your Excellency," Samantha announced as she stepped to the side and allowed the two men to walk past her.

"Thank you, Samantha," Grumman nodded to his secretary, who merely nodded in return before disappearing back out the doors. "Has there been a new development? Lieutenant-Colonel Elric was only here an hour ago," Grumman asked, straightening in his seat and looking at them expectantly.

"Yes, Sir, there has been," Havoc said once he'd been released from his salute.

"We've identified your granddaughter's kidnapper and Alphonse's assailant. We also have reason to believe she is the person behind the five murders and the assault that General Mustang has been charged with," Rossi told him. "Thanks to the joint efforts of our teams, we uncovered some journals that your son-in-law wrote for his daughter. One of those journals contained a name of a former apprentice who was expelled after seven weeks when she exhibited an alarmingly obsessive interest in flame alchemy. We checked for her name in both the notebooks Frank Chambers had kept throughout his career and on the list you gave Lieutenant-Colonel Elric and found the same name on both lists. We believe her to be Major Leah Belmont, assigned to Colonel Joshua Rubio's team. Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes pulled her file for us and her military photograph matches the sketch of the woman Alphonse described as his attacker to Major Armstrong," Rossi explained and Grumman looked relieved.

"What is your plan now?" Grumman asked, feeling his pulse race now that he had the name of the person responsible for all of this.

"We need to speak with her commanding officer, Colonel Joshua Rubio, and find out more about her alchemy and skill set so we know what we're going up against. Once we've spoken with him, I believe the plan is to have Lieutenant-Colonel Elric use his tracking array on any place we feel Captain Hawkeye is being held captive to confirm she is there and whether Major Belmont is nearby. The BAU will be acting in a supportive capacity and will hold the perimeter while Lieutenant-Colonel Elric, his team and Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes will enter the building to rescue Captain Hawkeye and arrest Major Belmont," Rossi informed him. "Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes will also have his team on standby to search through the building and Major Belmont's homes, should Captain Hawkeye not be held hostage there," Rossi finished explaining.

"Why are Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes and his team the ones making the arrest and searching the buildings after all the work that your team and General Mustang's team have put into this?" Grumman asked, finding it unusual that credit for the arrest and closing the case would go to Brookes rather than Edward and his team.

"Partly because the BAU doesn't operate by taking credit from the lead investigator – Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes, in this case – and because Lieutenant-Colonel Elric and my team have agreed that Generals Combes and Widdon are less likely to try and argue that the arrest and any evidence found is part of a conspiracy cooked up by General Mustang's team to get him out of prison. Lieutenant Colonel Elric is going to be assisting in the arrest only because Major Leah Belmont is an alchemist, and his reputation as a State Alchemist and a fighter is unquestionable," Rossi explained and Grumman nodded in understanding. That would be the wisest course of action to achieve the least amount of arguments from those two generals.

"Very well. What do you need from me?" Grumman asked, assuming they weren't here just to pass along the news that they identified the unsub.

"We would appreciate it if you could have arrest and search warrants ready to be signed for us to take when we're ready to move in and make the arrest," Rossi requested.

"You'll have them. The only thing I need from you is Lieutenant-Colonel Elric to come up with you so he can swear the address you give me for the search warrant is the one Captain Hawkeye is being held at. You need provide me with irrefutable evidence that she is being held at that address and Lieutenant-Colonel Elric's tracking array is one of the best pieces of evidence you could provide," Grumman told them. Both men nodded in agreement easily.

"Of course, Sir," Havoc bowed slightly.

"I imagine I'll see you before dawn, then," Grumman said, smiling knowingly. From what he knew of Mustang and Brookes' men and the little he knew of the BAU, they wouldn't rest now that they were so close.

"I would honestly be surprised if you didn't, Führer Grumman, Sir," Havoc smirked in agreement. "By your leave?" he said, gesturing to the door and Grumman nodded.

"I'll have those warrants drawn and ready to be signed when you need them. Good evening, gentlemen," Grumman promised and Havoc snapped a salute.

"We'll see you then, Sir," he said and was waved out of the salute. Both Rossi and Havoc didn't linger any longer and left the office, eager to get back to the others as quickly as possible.

* * *

Havoc and Rossi entered the office in time to catch Falman and Morgan informing the others that Colonel Rubio wasn't in his office and that they'd found someone who confirmed he had gone home for the evening, which is why they'd taken more time than they should've.

"Grumman has been informed and has promised to have the warrants ready to be signed when we go up to collect them. Ed," Rossi said, directing his words to the blond now, "you need to go with whoever collects those warrants and give your word that you saw Captain Hawkeye in the building with your tracking array," Rossi told him and Ed nodded.

"I guess I'm going with whoever interrogates Colonel Rubio. Might as well go to the address in Belmont's file and see if she's there before we come back here," Ed said.

"Then you're with me, Prentiss and Falman," Hotch told him and Ed nodded. That was the moment that Fuery and Brookes decided to arrive back, Brookes clutching a file in his hands.

"Sorry we took so long. It took us a lot longer to find the old applications than I thought," Brookes said as he handed the file to Ed.

"Cheers," Ed said as he opened the file immediately and started going over it, ignoring the rest of them while he was reading. The others waited for Ed to go over it patiently and it didn't take long for Ed to finish reading the important parts. "Okay, so basically what Chambers said was accurate. Belmont is proficient with earth and wood alchemy and competent with stone alchemy, though she's not as strong in that area as the first two. She showed competence in hand-to-hand fighting and marksmanship but they did note that should she be admitted into the program, more training in those areas was recommended. In the end, she was rejected because her alchemy was nothing no other earth, stone or wood alchemist could do or any other decent alchemist with a different specialty, like Mustang, would be able to pull off and her psychological assessment concerned the assessors. She seemed far too fixated on the power being a State Alchemist would grant her and kept mentioning how being a State Alchemist was something she felt she was owed," Ed told them. "What does her actual file say about her weapons and fighting skill set?" Ed asked and Prentiss grabbed the file in question.

"She received the same training as everyone else. Her hand-to-hand fighting was considered passable although her skill set with single and paired daggers was marked higher than her unarmed combat skills. She didn't seem to suit a sword at all and she scored high on her marksman tests. When asked to demonstrate how she would use her alchemy in a combat situation, the assessor said she managed to show adequate offensive moves but her alchemy would likely be more useful as a defensive tool. In the end, they recommended she be armed with a standard military pistol and a set of knives for offensive purposes," Prentiss read out to them and Ed nodded.

"So, she's likely to use her gun or knives offensively and her alchemy defensively," Ed summarised.

"It seems that way," Prentiss agreed. "Ed, will you be alright going up against her if she uses her weapons?" Prentiss asked, concerned for the blond's well-being.

"Course I will," Ed told her, a confident smirk on his face. "'Sides, even if her alchemy _was_ a challenge, I have two aces up my sleeve," Ed told them, deciding now was the time to reveal what he'd kept from them.

"Are you gonna share with the class, blondie?" Morgan asked as the others watched expectantly.

"You all have to swear to me that none of you will ever tell anyone about what I can do," Ed told them, voice and body language clearly showing just how serious he was. The seriousness got everyone's undivided attention.

"We promise, Ed," Hotch told him and all of the others nodded and gave their promises.

"I'm deadly serious. You can't even tell Al or Hawkeye. I'll tell them myself but you can't say anything to them unless you are absolutely certain you won't be overheard or spied on," Ed couldn't stress the importance enough. "Well, the first thing I tell you about is less sensitive than the second thing and my team already knows about it but I'd still prefer neither be spoken about until I'm ready to reveal them to the military," Ed told them.

"Jeez, kid, do you want us to sign a contract in our blood? We promise we won't say anything to anyone," Morgan told him and Ed cracked a smile at that.

"Nothing that drastic," Ed assured him. "Okay, so the first thing is that my alchemy has evolved," Ed told them.

"'Evolved'?" Rossi asked and Ed nodded.

"I don't need to clap for any alchemy that doesn't exchange energy for something," Ed told them before looking at the desk to see what he could transmute with. Grabbing a random notepad – JJ's, he thought – he ripped out a couple of blank pages and touched them. Blue alchemic energy danced across the pages and soon enough, he had what he wanted.

"Oh, Ed, that's amazing," JJ said as she accepted the paper tulips Ed had made.

"Suck-up," Morgan muttered next to him before letting out an 'oomph' when Ed elbowed him. "Rude," he complained as he rubbed the spot Ed got him.

"So, you don't need to clap now?" Reid asked curiously.

"Only if I'm physically transmuting something," Ed told him. "If I'm using my tracking array, for example, I still need to clap to form the circle," he explained and Reid nodded.

"So, what's the top-secret second thing you need to tell us, chief?" Havoc asked and Ed fidgeted a little. He wasn't exactly sure how the team would take this but his nerves about their reaction were nothing on what he felt every time he thought about Hawkeye's reaction. Mustang may have stressed to him that he definitely had Hawkeye's blessing but the woman herself hadn't actually agreed to it so Ed wasn't certain.

"Mustang decided to apologise to me for what he said to me yesterday by –" Ed cut himself off before gritting his teeth and forcing himself to just rip the band-aid off, "by teaching me flame alchemy." He kind of rushed it out a little but not enough that he wouldn't be understood. He forced himself to keep his eyes on the group, to see their reactions rather than avert his eyes like a coward.

Rather than the confusion or anger he'd expected to see, he found himself faced with mostly positive expressions. The Amestrians mainly had disbelief though – Ed felt his heart warm – it seemed to be because they couldn't believe Mustang would share the secrets and not because it was Ed who was told. Ed felt himself flush when he realised there was pride on just about everyone's faces, not just the Amestrians, and just about everyone looked like they approved immensely. Brookes looked a little lost and there were some concerned faces – mainly JJ and Reid – that had Ed worried that they might not approve. JJ seemed to notice this and she gripped his flesh arm reassuringly.

"Ed, I'm not worried about you knowing flame alchemy because I don't approve of you knowing it. I'm concerned because I'm worried that you knowing it will make you more of a target. You're the one who said that the majority of the times you've been kidnapped, it was because your kidnapper thought you knew about flame alchemy," JJ explained softly.

"I'll be fine, Miss JJ," Ed told her, giving her a small, soft smile. "No one outside of this room and Mustang, Hawkeye and Al will know about this and it's not like I can't take care of myself," Ed said with a smirk that had JJ rolling her eyes.

"I'm still allowed to worry," JJ told him, poking his forehead and causing him to grumble while the others laughed.

"It's a bit poetic, don't you think?" Reid said, getting blank looks for the most part. "Major Belmont was expelled as Berthold Hawkeye's apprentice because he refused to teach her fire alchemy and Ed's going to use it against her for going after her ex-teacher's student and daughter," Reid explained and Ed chuckled a little.

"That's part of the reason Mustang decided to teach me," Ed admitted, causing a couple of chuckles around the room.

"Do you know where Hawkeye hid Mustang's gloves and research that she removed from his home so the generals couldn't touch it?" Fuery asked and Ed shook his head.

"No. Why?" Ed asked, thinking maybe Fuery was going to suggest that Ed start reading the research to get a better grasp of flame alchemy, rather than going up against Belmont with only the basics he knew from Mustang. Though, in all fairness to Mustang, he did manage to teach him quite a bit in the limited time they'd spent working on it.

"Won't you need a pair of his gloves?" Fuery asked and Ed made an 'ah' of understanding.

"No, I already have a pair," Ed told him, pulling his pair out of his pocket. "Miss Riza still had a pair on her when Belmont lured her and Al into the alleyway. Probably because it was a force of habit but she managed to hide them in Al's pocket before Belmont ordered her away from him. He gave them to me when I left the hospital after he woke up," Ed explained. Fuery seemed satisfied that Ed wasn't going to not be able to use flame alchemy now.

"We should head out to Colonel Rubio's home to interview him, if there's nothing else anyone else has to tell us?" Hotch asked, a raised brow in Ed's direction and amusement in his eyes. "Do we have his address?" Hotch directed this question to Brookes.

"Yeah, he'd be listed as one of Belmont's emergency contact, just like General Mustang would be listed as one of the emergency contacts in all of your files," Brookes said, gesturing to Mustang's team and Ed. "That way, if she ever ended up in hospital, her CO would know where she is," Brookes explained, taking the file from Prentiss and looking at it. "Yeah, here it is," he said, showing it to Hotch and Edward.

"Got it. What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ed exclaimed, striding for the door as Prentiss shook her head before she, Hotch and Falman followed the blond out the office.

* * *

They grabbed a car and driver from the military car park and Ed recited the address to the driver and soon enough, they were heading towards it.

"I don't think I should go in with you to talk to Colonel Rubio. I should go to the address listed as Belmont's residence and check to see if she's there. If she isn't, I'll come back and we can ask Rubio where she could be and if she is, at least we'll know," Ed explained before there could be any protests.

"You need someone to stay with you," Hotch told him but Ed shook his head.

"No, neither of you can question someone without a military escort, so Falman can't come with either. You'll be better at questioning Colonel Rubio than I would, but this is something only I can do. I'll stay in the car with the driver since I won't need to leave the car to use my tracking array. I'll return right after I check Belmont's house and join up with you guys at Rubio's," Ed promised. None of the three with him looked like they wanted to let him anywhere out of their sight but none of them could argue.

"Okay. As long as you stay in the car until you get back here," Hotch ordered and Ed promised. "Do you know her address?" Hotch asked.

"Yup. I memorised it when I looked at Rubio's address," Ed told him. Hotch still didn't look happy with the idea but he didn't push the matter any further and the rest of the drive was spent in silence.

* * *

Hotch, Falman and Prentiss all left the car once it came to a stop in front of an average-sized house. Ed eyed it and decided it could probably do with a paint job but it didn't look too bad considering it was in one of the older parts of Central. Ed could see a couple of kids' toys in the front yard and started to tell Hotch and the others but stopped as he realised they'd notice them soon enough if they hadn't already.

The three who'd left the car watched as it pulled away after another promise from Ed to be careful, not to leave the car and to come back here right away. Granted, the promise had been paired with an eye roll in typical Ed fashion but they still appreciated it and headed up the path to the front door once the car had pulled away.

Falman knocked sharply on the front door, before standing at attention, and saluting sharply as soon as the door opened half a minute later.

"May I help you?" Colonel Joshua Rubio was slightly shorter than average and little more portly then most men in the military would be. He looked to be in his 40's and had a dark complexion. He frowned at them, obviously confused as to why there were strangers standing on his doorstep.

"We're sorry for interrupting your evening, Colonel Rubio," Falman stated. Rubio released him from his salute in an almost dismissive gesture.

"I assume this is too important to wait until tomorrow when I get to the office?" Rubio asked and Falman nodded. "You're welcome to come inside but keep your voices down. My wife has only just managed to get our children to sleep," Rubio said, standing aside to let them inside.

"Thank you, Sir. We promise to be as quick as we can be," Falman assured him.

"Very well. Follow me through to the living room," Rubio said, a little gruffly as he made his way through them to lead them to the room he wanted them in. "Take a seat," he waved at the couch as he took up the armchair. Hotch and Prentiss did as gestured while Falman chose to stand. Rubio didn't comment on his choice.

"As Lieutenant Falman said, we're sorry we had to intrude on you this evening but it's important that we speak with you now rather than wait for morning," Hotch told him. "My name is Aaron Hotchner and this is Emily Prentiss, one of my co-workers. We are part of the six-man team Führer Grumman has permitted to look into the crimes General Mustang has been charged with. We're investigators in our own country, as well as friends of General Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. As a result, Führer Grumman permitted us a week to determine whether our expertise in this sort of crime would lead to another suspect or confirm that he is indeed guilty of the crimes he was charged with," Hotch explained and Rubio nodded.

"I've seen you around the base in the last couple of days and have heard the rumours about why you're here. But I don't understand why you are in my home right now," Rubio was still frowning.

"Have you heard that the Fullmetal Alchemist's younger brother Alphonse Elric was attacked and Captain Riza Hawkeye was kidnapped last night?" Hotch asked and Rubio nodded.

"I heard the rumours," he admitted.

"Alphonse regained consciousness last night and was able to provide a description of his attacker to Major Armstrong at lunch time today so he could draw us a sketch of the suspect. When Lieutenant-Colonel Elric showed this sketch to General Mustang this afternoon, he recognised the woman as someone who received a promotion to Major during the ceremony Führer Grumman held after Promised Day, though he never caught her name. Because of this information, Lieutenant-Colonel Elric was able to obtain a list containing the names of all those promoted to Major during that ceremony from Führer Grumman. When we compared that list to a couple of other sources we had, we were able to find a name and confirm the identity of the woman who attacked Alphonse and kidnapped Captain Hawkeye, thanks to their military photo contained in their file," Hotch told him. Both he and Prentiss were studying the man for signs that he knew who they were talking about but he gave no such signs; rather, he still looked puzzled as to what that had to do with him.

"We identified her as Major Leah Belmont," Prentiss told him and sure enough, genuine shock flashed across Rubio's face.

"Belmont?" He asked incredulously, almost laughing at how absurd it was until he realised they were completely serious. "You're telling me _Belmont_ attacked Lieutenant-Colonel Elric's brother and kidnapped Captain Hawkeye?"

"We believe so, Colonel Rubio, and that's not all," Hotch informed him. "We also believe her to be the one to frame former General Mustang." At this, Rubio really did laugh.

"Look, Belmont is a good soldier and she's smart but she's not capable of pulling something of that magnitude off," Rubio told them. "I spoke with Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes when it started looking real bad for Mustang so I know how well he was framed. Never did believe Mustang was behind it all," Rubio said gruffly, "but I find it hard to believe that Belmont was the real perpetrator."

"We can understand why you wouldn't believe us without seeing all of the evidence we've collected but there is no denying she was the one behind the attacks last night. According to Alphonse Elric, she claimed to have personal motive for wanting Mustang out of the way; she believed he had stolen the secrets to flame alchemy that she felt like were hers to know and hers alone," Hotch told him. "We've seen her rejected State Alchemist application and part of the reason she was denied a position in the program was because her assessors felt as though she was too obsessed with the power that position would grant her," Hotch saw Rubio absorb this information.

"That _would_ explain her resistance to go near Mustang," he said slowly. "On the few occasions my team have had paperwork Mustang or someone in his team needed, she would only ever take them if ordered. Any time the man was within her sight, I always thought I saw hate – or strong dislike, at the very least – in her eyes before it was gone a moment later. I never thought anything of it because not everyone likes Mustang but I always did think I should find out why her opinion of him was so negative. I just never got around to it," Rubio said. "But I still don't understand what this has to do with Alphonse Elric or Captain Hawkeye," he confessed.

"I have no doubt about the fact that it will become public knowledge soon, but Belmont was briefly apprenticed by the same man who later became General Mustang's alchemy teacher. That man was Captain Hawkeye's father and he developed flame alchemy. Our investigation has uncovered proof that Belmont became alarmingly obsessed with flame alchemy within weeks of being apprenticed under Hawkeye and ended up being expelled because she started demanding he teach her and became violent towards the end when he refused to," Prentiss told Rubio. "From what we understand, Belmont believes that Captain Hawkeye knows the secrets of flame alchemy, or at least knows where her father's research is," she explained.

"Where was Major Belmont today?" Hotch asked and Rubio's eyes widened before he put his head in his hands.

"She never showed for work today," he told them. "I never reported her as she's never done this before so I believed she had a good reason for missing work," he sighed. "Shit, is she really behind all of what you're saying?" Rubio asked.

"I'm afraid so," Hotch told him.

"She's been a bit obsessive with following the news coverage about the murders but I never thought anything of it because we all were. It isn't every day that someone is killed like that, let alone several prominent members of the military," Rubio told them, looking like he really wished he had a stiff drink in his hand. "When it was announced that Mustang had been arrested, she looked victorious but I assumed it was because she might've suspected it was him all along and had been proven right but it wasn't because of that, was it? Her plan was successful," Rubio sighed once more. "What do you need from me?" he finally asked, looking resigned.

"Anything you can tell us about Belmont would be helpful," Hotch told him. "Her interests, hobbies, work habits, any place she liked visiting, anything like that." Rubio didn't say anything for a few moments, gathering his thoughts before speaking.

"I don't know her all that well. She was attached to my team two weeks after Promised Day but my team was assigned clean up so aside from seeing her in the morning to assign her to an area and finding her in the afternoon to tell her to go home, I never spoke to her for the first two months of her being under my command. When Führer Grumman held that ceremony, it was in part to celebrate the majority of the clean up being completed, as well as give promotions and address the citizens for the first time as Führer," Rubio told them. "With the majority of the grunt work done, all that was left for the city to recover was to rebuild damaged buildings and that was left to construction workers and alchemists who could help, so the military went more or less back to normal."

"So what do you know about Major Belmont?" Prentiss asked.

"I know that Belmont is a hard worker. She never disobeys an order without good cause and those were few and far between. She always on time for work and stays behind more often than not to make sure everything's ready for the next day. She's more likely to head back to her home and read on a Friday or Saturday night than go out drinking. It took her a little while to fit in with my team, mainly because the reassignment wasn't anything anyone was expecting," Rubio said. "As I said, she enjoys books and spending her weekends at home with her cat. She's dedicated to improving her alchemy so she's also likely to be found in any library she can get into without being a State Alchemist. I know she was extremely proud to have been promoted to Major and when I asked why, she just told me that it had been a goal of her so she could prove something to someone. She doesn't have any family, except for a brother, I think, but they don't talk and from what little I know, he lives beyond West City," Rubio seemed to be struggling to remember things now.

"How did her parents die?" Hotch asked.

"Her father was a soldier and he was killed in a car accident. I believe she was nearing her birthday. Her mother grew ill only a few months after her father passed and she died only a year later," Rubio told them. "She was fifteen when she moved away from Central for a little while for some reason. She moved back when she was sixteen and worked in various positions before joining the military at eighteen," Rubio told them.

"Do you know if there has ever been any kind of complaint made against her while she's been in the military?" Prentiss asked and Rubio shook his head.

"Like I said, she's refused orders before but she's never been written up for them as she was able to provide adequate and legitimate reasons for doing so," Rubio told them. "Other than that, I can't think of anything that stood out in her file. The only other thing I can tell you is that she's more of recluse than a socialite. No one on my team has ever been invited over to her place for drinks and she's refused nearly every offer to join us for a night out," Rubio said, shrugging his shoulders as he slumped a little. Hotch figured he could forgive him for his lack of manners since he had just been told someone under his command is guilty of kidnapping and assault but then he noticed how Rubio's frame went rigid for a moment before relaxing again. A glimpse at Prentiss told him that she had noticed it as well.

"What did you just think of, Colonel Rubio?" Prentiss asked gently. Rubio looked startled that she had noticed but, to his credit, didn't try and deny or hide it.

"I noticed that when she joined our team, Major Belmont was particularly focused on something. Nothing work related but I just figured it had something to do with her alchemy research so I never asked about it," Rubio told them. "But around the time General Mustang was promoted, she seemed so angry for a few days afterwards. I decided to give her a week and if she hadn't calmed down, I'd ask what was wrong as it was beginning to affect her work but she cooled down before I had to ask her about it. But her focus on her personal project seemed to increase a hundred-fold. It got to the point where I ended up have to warn her that if her side project kept getting in the way of her actual work, I would be forced to take disciplinary action against her. She seemed apologetic and I never caught her working on it at the office again."

"It's possible she was working on her plans to frame Mustang. We do have a theory that his promotion caused her to snap temporarily before she decided to take action against him," Hotch said. "Why would you remember her behaviour during that period of time?" Hotch asked.

"My youngest child celebrated her third birthday the weekend of Mustang's promotion. I'd been so hyper-focused on her birthday and all the planning that I brought that behaviour into work for a day or two after the party so I noticed," Rubio explained. Hotch knew that feeling. The one birthday of Jack's that he and Hayley had planned together had resulted in Hotch being more exhausted than he had been after a case and he'd picked up so many extra details at the office, he'd been a little overwhelmed by them all.

Before anyone could say anything else, there was a quiet but firm knock at the door and Rubio sat up, immediately alert. Hotch went over their entire conversation quickly and realised that they had neglected to inform Rubio that Edward would be joining them later. Hotch stole a glance at the clock sitting on the wall and realised they had been talking for nearly thirty minutes.

"That's likely Lieutenant-Colonel Elric. He split up from us to investigate something," Hotch informed the tense colonel. Rubio nodded in relief before getting up from his couch and opening the door. When he came back, sure enough, Ed was following right behind him.

"She wasn't there," Ed told them immediately once he was in the living room.

"Excuse me?" Rubio asked and Ed barely gave him a glance as he moved to stand next to Falman.

"I mean, your subordinate wasn't at her home and I didn't see Captain Hawkeye there either. She's being held somewhere else," Ed told them.

"I hope you had a warrant, Lieutenant-Colonel Elric," Rubio said stiffly and Ed looked at him like he was an idiot.

"I didn't need one. I didn't enter the premises; I just used my tracking array to scan her house for signs of life. I found a cat and that was it," Ed told him.

"Colonel Rubio, do you know of any place where Major Belmont could hold someone hostage with minimal fear of being found?" Hotch asked. Rubio gave Ed a questioning look but turned back to Hotch.

"I think she goes out to her childhood home every couple of months to check up on it. It's in the lower part of Central, on the outskirts of the actual city," Rubio told him. "I don't know where it is though, but, as I said, her father was a soldier so his file may contain the address," Rubio offered the information and Hotch nodded in thanks.

"Prentiss, do you need to ask anything?" Emily shook her head in answer to Hotch's question. "Lieutenant-Colonel Elric?" Ed made a displeased face at the use of his rank but shook his head. "Thank you very much for your time, Colonel Rubio, and once again, we apologise for any inconvenience we've caused you and for disrupting your evening," Hotch said as he stood and held his hand out for the colonel to shake.

"I hope you find Captain Hawkeye soon. She's a good woman," Rubio said, giving Ed a nod as he shook Prentiss' hand and waved off Falman's snappy and Edward's half-hearted salutes.

"Thank you, Colonel," Ed said, after a slight nudge from Falman. He did glare at the older man because he did have manners and he _was_ going to thank the colonel anyway.

Rubio showed them out of the house and they got back into their waiting car. No one commented on the fact that Rubio waited until the car door had shut behind them to close the door to his home and soon enough, they were heading back to the office.

"We'll need to pull Belmont's father's file the moment we get back," Ed said before shaking his head as another idea occurred to him. "No, we'll call Havoc from the office at the car park and have Brookes pull the file and ring us back with the address. Then we'll have a driver take us to that address where I'll get the confirmation I need and we'll come back and head to Grumman's office," Ed told them. Nobody argued with the plan so the rest of the drive was spent with Ed being filled in on what Rubio had told them.

It didn't take very long for them to reach the military car park and for the driver to escort Ed into their office area so he could borrow their phone. Hotch, Prentiss and Falman stood just inside the doorway and waited patiently.

"Havoc, its Ed," Ed said the moment Havoc picked up.

"_Hey, chief. Done with Rubio?"_ Havoc asked and Ed hummed in confirmation.

"Yup. Need Brookes to do me a favour. Can you ask him to head to the personnel room and grab the file for Leah Belmont's father? He's a deceased soldier," Ed told him.

"_We already have it, Ed. Rossi asked Brookes to grab it when we read over Belmont's file and discovered her father was a soldier,"_ Havoc informed him and Ed let out a small 'huh' of surprise.

"Great. That saves me plenty of time than. Gimme the address on his file," Ed asked and Havoc let out a scoff at his usual decorum but rattled of an address after a few moments. "Cheers Havoc. We'll be back later. We're gonna go look at that house," Ed explained.

"_Alright, chief. Stay safe,"_ Havoc said. Ed thanked him before hanging up.

"Got the address. Let's go check this place out," Ed said as he moved from out behind the desk he'd borrowed. Without prompting, their previous driver followed them and they were soon back in the same car.

* * *

For the third time in a few hours, Samantha was letting someone from the BAU and Edward's team into the Führer's office. This time though, she barely granted Führer Grumman enough time to permit them entrance before she was opening the door and practically shoving the four of them through the doors. She could tell from the way Edward could barely contain himself that they had found where Hawkeye was being held and it took every ounce of her professionalism to back out of the office and shut the doors again, closing the five in together.

"Führer Grumman, we got an address," Ed told him immediately. Grumman grabbed the search warrant and Ed rattled off the address for him to write onto it. "I saw Captain Hawkeye there. She's bound in the basement but she didn't seem to be seriously injured. Her life force was still strong. Belmont was in the house too," Ed added the part about Belmont as an afterthought.

"I trust I don't need to tell you what your orders are, Edward," Grumman said as he handed the two warrants over to the blonde.

"We'll get her back safe. I'll make sure of it," Ed promised him and Grumman nodded.

"Go," was all Grumman needed to say to have Ed leave the room in a flash, the three others following him behind him closely.

Ed gave Samantha a thumbs up as they headed past her desk, barely remembering say a goodbye and thank you to her as the four of them got into the corridor.

"Falman, take Hotch and Prentiss to the car park. I'll get the others," Ed ordered and Falman nodded and Ed took off running for the office, leaving the three others behind him in no time.

Thanks to the time of night, the whole base was practically abandoned so Ed didn't run into anyone except the odd soldier who was on night duty, guarding Central Command from anyone trying to break into it. He was well known enough around Central Command that none of them stopped him. He made it to the office in record time and burst through the door, scaring everyone in the room.

"We got the warrants and Hawkeye's location," Ed told them as soon as the door was open. "We're heading to the military car park now. Miss Sheska, thank you for staying with us and helping us out but you're welcome to head back home or wait here or in Brookes' office. If you want to head home, I'll make sure a military car will be standing by for you," Ed told the mousy brunette, his gratefulness written all over his face and in his voice.

"I think I might head home. I'll report back for duty tomorrow morning so I can find out what happened," Sheska said and both Ed and Brookes nodded.

"I'll order a car for you," Ed told her and she bowed her thanks. "The rest of you; we gotta go," Ed told them and they didn't wait another moment. They all took off for the car park, ready to wrap this entire case up, save Hawkeye and free Mustang.

A/N - Chapter 22 for all you lovely people! Firstly, all the thanks to my phenomenal beta, PhoenisQueen, for not only her hard work on this chapter but her help with future chapters for 'Spirit Animals'! Though she is a busy woman, I can't thank her enough for all of her hard work at revising my stories so that they're as amazing as they are! Also, many thanks to those of you who have been reviewing the current chapters. While I appreciate those of you who do, I'd like to ask those of you who are discovering this story for the first time and favouriting and following it to pretty please leave me a review with your thoughts? I'd love to hear them, even if they are just a few words!

Now that chapter 22 is posted, I'd like to remind everyone that there are only 32 chapters in this story which means we've got 10 more chapters to go. After this story is finished, my plans are to focus primarily on 'Spirit Animals' and getting it finished before moving on to a couple ideas I have for new stories. But that's in the future and right now, I'd love to hear from everyone about what they thought to chapter 22!


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two:**

Due to the number of people involved, it took three cars for all of them to reach the address where Ed had told them Hawkeye was being held. Mustang's team and the BAU team left immediately with Edward and Brookes, but Brookes asked Sheska to call in the rest of his team and have them meet him at the house to search for evidence after Belmont was arrested before she headed home for the night. True to his word, Ed asked one of the soldiers at the motor pool to give Sheska a ride home when she was ready to leave.

With the warrants from Grumman in hand, they left Central Command and headed for Belmont's childhood home. The ride over was tense and quiet, as everyone wondered if this would finally be the end of this entire incident. Success here would not only lead to the capture of a dangerous killer, but also Mustang's exoneration and restoration to his rank and position within the military. As they pulled up in front of the house, they all studied it intently.

The house itself was weathered and badly in need of minor repairs – such as shutters over the windows and replacement of some of the wooden siding – and some cosmetic improvements, but it still seemed sound enough that they wouldn't be risking their lives simply by entering it. When Ed had been here checking for Hawkeye earlier, he'd also checked the building's foundation and had been pleased to find that what damage there was to the outside was mainly cosmetic. Given the fact that this was Belmont's childhood home, it seemed likely that she had chosen not to maintain the outside so that vandals and thieves wouldn't be tempted to enter the home. If someone were to put some effort into the minor repairs and perhaps a new coat of paint, the house would be grand indeed. It was two stories high, with a basement buried in the earth, though there was also an exterior entrance with heavy wooden doors that they would be able to use to get Hawkeye out of the house without alerting Belmont.

After a brief consultation between Ed and Brookes, the drivers were ordered to take the cars and park them a few blocks down, out of sight of the house and to wait there until they saw an explosion or Ed's signal. It was a credit to their training – or perhaps Edward's reputation had spread further than he'd expected – that none of them questioned if he was joking about there being an explosion or not. Before the cars left, Ed tossed his red coat inside one of the cars, knowing that it wouldn't be of any help on a stealth mission. The group watched as the cars left one by one, until they couldn't be seen from the front of the house. Once they were gone, Ed turned his attention back to the house. The moonlight shone on the old house and caused Belmont's car to reflect the light back dully.

The others were waiting for Ed's signal about what to do, but he wanted to gather fresh data before giving any orders, so he clapped his hands together, wincing as the familiar ringing echoed loudly. Even wearing his gloves didn't help to muffle the sound. He gathered the energy around himself before stretching his arms out in front of him and allowing his tracking array to do its job. This time he didn't bother checking in all directions, since he was more interested in what lay directly in front of him. He heard Brookes gasp, no doubt at the sight of his glowing, electric blue eyes, but he paid the man no further mind at the moment, concentrating on his array and what it revealed about their target.

The yard – both front and back, all the way to the deteriorating fence that marked the property line – was deserted. In the basement he could sense Hawkeye, and while he wanted to check on her condition, he first wanted to make sure he knew exactly where Belmont was, as well as the precise layout of the house. The first floor had no life energy in any of the rooms, while the second floor had only one, which he assumed to be Belmont. Based on what he was able to infer from the layout of the house, Belmont was in a bedroom, studying something and moving restlessly around the room. Ed was saddened by what he could see of her life energy. He had first noted that a person's life energy reflected something about him- or herself when he'd scanned Zarkon's ship to determine the location for the alien warlord and his witch. Their life energies had been dark, twisted, and without any trace of humanity, and he could see that Belmont's was well on its way to a similar state. Although hers showed signs of hate, jealousy, and a disregard for life, he noted that it wasn't yet as dark and twisted as Zarkon's and Haggar's had been. Though, that may simply have been that she hadn't had as much time or opportunity to sink into the depths of depravity that the two aliens had.

Assured that Belmont was where he'd seen her earlier and didn't seem as if she would be moving any time soon, he turned his attention to Hawkeye, reassured by the fact that her life energy was bright and filled with love, kindness, and compassion. Based on the position he could see her in, he reasoned that she was still bound to a chair. There were a few small dark spots that he suspected were indications of injury, but her energy was strong, so whatever Belmont had done to her, she wasn't in immediate danger of death. He cut off the array after checking on Hawkeye, taking a deep breath. He had only held the array for a minute, but he was glad that he was in Amestris and not America, considering this was now the third time tonight he'd used this array. In America, his energy levels would be nearly depleted, but thanks to the amount of energy he could draw on here, he'd barely made a dent in his own energy level.

"Belmont is on the top floor, in one of the bedrooms, and Hawkeye is bound to a chair in the basement," he told the others in a hushed voice, well aware of how far a voice could carry when there weren't many buildings around. "Hotch, your team will take the perimeter, as we discussed. The rest of you, we'll work on getting Hawkeye free and apprehending Belmont. There's three points of entry into the house not including the windows – the front door, the back door, and the basement doors."

"We'll circle the house, but I want everyone to remain within sight of at least one other member of our team," Hotch ordered. "Prentiss, Morgan, you two take the back of the house. Keep each other in sight but put some distance between yourselves. If a fight breaks out like it did with Harding, I would rather Belmont not be able to take both of you out with a single attack. JJ, Reid, you two stay here at the front of the house. Rossi and I will fill in the gaps on the sides of the house."

"We'll enter through the front door," Ed told them. "I'll take point since I know the layout of the house and I know where the entrance to the basement is. Our first priority is to get Hawkeye out of there so when we get to the basement, I'll go for her bindings. I can deconstruct them so we can get in and out as quickly as possible. Havoc, I think she's injured, but I'm not sure how badly. We'll stand guard while you check her over and if she can be safely moved, you and Fuery are going to help her out of the basement via the exterior entrance. If we're lucky, Belmont will stay on the second floor until the captain is safe. Once you get her out of the house, get her to the cars and to the hospital if necessary. Meanwhile, Brookes, Falman, Breda and I will go upstairs and arrest her, and hopefully this will be over without any trouble." Havoc wasn't the only one who couldn't stop a snort of disbelief.

"Chief, trouble follows you around like a love-sick puppy," Havoc said flatly, and Ed did the only mature thing he could to respond to that statement. He stuck his tongue out at the older man, since he couldn't exactly refute his words. The others chuckled and he glared at all of them.

"Hotch, get your team in position first," Ed said. "Once we get the signal that they're ready, we'll move in."

The agents took the hint and drew their weapons, moving slowly and cautiously, one by one, across the road towards the house. Prentiss and Morgan split up and made their way through the overgrown lawn towards the rear of the house. While they were getting into position, Edward pulled off his gloves and replaced them with the extra pair of ignition gloves he'd stuffed into the pocket of his black pants. He couldn't quite put words to the feeling that welled up inside him as he pulled them on, but the closest he could get was the same thing he'd felt all those years ago when Trisha had given him and Al permission to read Hoenheim's journals and alchemy books after being told for years that he couldn't touch them.

"Gonna take some time to get used to seeing you with those on chief," Havoc commented, nodding towards the gloves and Ed grinned reassuringly.

"I won't be using them all the time. I think I still prefer stabbing or punching something rather than setting it on fire. Don't want to show the bastard up at his own alchemy, after all. Although," Ed's grin grew mischievous, "these _will_ come in handy for blowing up a building." Havoc and the rest of Mustang's team chuckled at the thought of what Mustang's reaction would be the first time Edward used flame alchemy to destroy a building and the amount of paperwork that would result. He would only have himself to blame for teaching flame alchemy to Edward when that day inevitably came.

Edward spotted Reid waving at him, letting them know that the BAU was in position. "It's go-time," he said and the five men standing with him grew completely serious. All of them drew their weapons and Ed resisted the urge to form his blade. He didn't need it right now, hopefully wouldn't need it at all tonight, and he wanted to avoid a lecture about ruining Mustang's glove.

Quietly, covering each other's' backs, they crossed the street, moving past where Reid and JJ were crouched. Edward kept his eyes and ears wide open for any sign that Belmont was moving inside. He checked their path for any hidden arrays, remembering Harding's love of setting alchemic traps for the unwary, but the path was clear. It seemed as though Belmont was overconfident enough to believe that no one would expect to find her here, given the success of her plan up to this point. They reached the front door and Edward checked the front door. A gentle twist of the knob proved that it was locked, but a simple swipe of his finger over the lock deconstructed the deadbolt. He tried the knob again and this time the door swung open on silent hinges, which was a relief. Squeaky hinges or loose floorboards would be their worst enemy at this point.

The five of them moved into the house like shadows. Each of them knew they couldn't afford even the tiniest mistake here. Ed could hear the sounds of footsteps on the floorboards above them. He held up his hand and they all came to a halt. He listened carefully, but after a few seconds he heard the squeak of bedsprings compressing as Belmont sat down. Another signal had them moving again, testing each step carefully before they put all their weight onto a particular board. It seemed to take an age before they reached the door next to the kitchen that led to the basement.

Once again, Edward paused in front of the door to check it for anything that might tip Belmont off to their presence, but found nothing on this side of it. A test of the doorknob proved that it was locked as well, and he repeated the transmutation to deconstruct the lock. Slowly, inch by inch, he pushed the door open, holding his breath and praying that the hinges were well oiled. The stairs were dark, but Ed found the light switch quickly enough. The light-bulb was old and only let out a dull, flickering yellow light, but it was enough that none of them would trip on the stairs and break their necks. Signaling to Havoc – who was bringing up the rear – to close the door, they made their way down the stairs.

Hawkeye was bound to a normal, wooden kitchen chair which had been placed almost exactly in the center of the basement. Ed had to stop himself from racing quickly towards her, forcing himself to move slowly and take in every detail he could. She was bound with ropes that had been tied around the back of her chair, securing her chest and upper arms. Her hands had been forced behind her back and her wrists tied with more rope in a way that made Ed flinch in sympathy for the agony that she must be in, having been in that position for two days at this point. Another loop of rope was wrapped around her thighs, tying her to the seat of the chair, and each ankle was tied to one of the front legs of the chair. She was gagged with a piece of thick cloth that seemed to have been torn from her military jacket. The jacket itself had been removed, leaving her in her dress shirt and uniform pants, but her boots and socks were gone. Ed couldn't be sure in the dim light, but it seemed as if her feet were badly bruised. However, her facial expression when she saw them was one of _you took your sweet time getting here_.

Ed hurried over as quickly as he dared, glancing at the others and seeing that they had all made it down the stairs. Havoc had closed the door and was moving past Breda and Brookes, who had taken up positions on either side of the staircase, their weapons aimed at the door. Fuery took up a position between the stairs and Hawkeye, while Havoc moved to join Ed at the captain's side.

Carefully, Ed removed her gag, wanting to get an idea of where she was injured before doing anything to move her. Hawkeye swallowed several times in an effort to moisten her dry throat. "Captain, where are you hurt?" he whispered, stopping Havoc from removing any of her bonds.

"My left arm," she whispered hoarsely. "I'm not sure if it's broken or just dislocated. I can't feel it since the blood flow has been reduced. My feet hurt too, and my chest is a little sore – she punched me a few times. How's Alphonse?"

"He's fine. He got some stitches in his head and Doc Evans is holding him captive until they come out, but he's fine otherwise," Ed assured her in a low tone. He swiped a hand across the ropes binding her legs and gestured for Havoc to check her feet. Cautiously, Havoc did, and Ed noticed heavy, dark bruises on the soles of her feet and the way she flinched at Havoc's cautious touches. Clearly, it would be difficult for her to move under her own power without help.

After a close examination of her feet, Havoc moved to check on her left arm and shook his head at Ed's questioning look. "Forearm is broken," he hissed. "There might be some damage to her shoulder from being bound this way, but her arm is definitely broken."

"Think we can afford the time it would take to splint it?" Ed asked. "If we try to move her without that, she'll be hurting something fierce, especially if she's been bound like this the entire time. I know from personal experience."

"Think you can remove these supports from the back of the chair without alerting everyone and their dog to our presence?" Havoc asked quietly. Ed gave him a flat look and Havoc shook his head. "I'll take that as a yes."

Havoc carefully supported Hawkeye's arm to stop it from falling limply once she was free. Once he had her braced, he nodded at Edward who used alchemy to slice through the rope cleanly. Hawkeye couldn't prevent a low, pained moan from coming out of her throat as her arm shifted slightly despite Havoc's best efforts and the sudden restoration of blood flow to the appendage.

Moving with supreme caution, Havoc supported Hawkeye's arm as he brought it around in front of her again, cradling it against her chest as Edward popped the wooden slats out from the upright back of the chair and gathered up the ropes that the captain had been bound with. Following Havoc's direction, Ed placed one of the boards on Hawkeye's thigh and held it while Havoc lowered her arm to rest on the board. Ed placed the second board on the top of the broken limb, then supported both boards while Havoc skillfully used the ropes to tie them tightly together, sandwiching the arm between the boards to help support the limb and keep the bones from shifting until she could get it looked at.

"Thank you Edward, Havoc," Hawkeye murmured once they were done. "Edward, are you wearing General Mustang's gloves?"

Edward had known that she wouldn't miss the gloves, since the red array stitched into them was distinctive and he resisted the urge to hide his hands behind his back so she wouldn't see them. "Yes."

"Why?" she asked simply.

Ed wanted to ask if they could have this conversation when there was minimal risk of a crazy, flame alchemy-obsessed killer coming down the stairs, but stopped himself when he realised he owed her the truth. "When I told Mustang what happened to you and Al, he said some things. They were pretty harsh."

Havoc shook his head in disagreement. "Sorry to interrupt chief, but what he said was downright cruel." Ed shrugged, not disputing the lieutenant's statement, and Hawkeye's narrowed eyes told both of them that they would be having a further discussion about this in the near future.

"It doesn't matter," Ed told her, making sure his voice stayed low. "He already apologised to me – which was shocking enough – but he also decided that he wanted to teach me flame alchemy." He fidgeted with the white edging on his jacket subconsciously as he kept eye contact with Hawkeye. "He told me everything about what happened between you and your father, and what you asked him to do about the research and why."

Hawkeye was surprised that Mustang had revealed that much to his subordinate, considering how closely the two of them guarded their past experiences from before Hawkeye had joined Mustang's staff. It wasn't well known that they had known each other before she had been appointed as his second in command, and they made a point to keep that knowledge quiet to avoid any accusations of favouritism.

"Captain, Mustang said that you would approve of me learning fire alchemy from him, but I swear that if you don't, I'll take the gloves off right now and give them back to you," Ed concluded and Hawkeye could tell he was completely serious. Ed _would_ give up learning anything more about flame alchemy no matter how much Mustang offered to teach him, if she said no.

A hundred examples of Ed's recklessness and legendary temper flashed through her mind at once. Any one of those moments would be justification for her to tell Ed that she didn't want him to learn flame alchemy. She would admit that part of her wanted to say no as a way to punish Mustang for doing this without her consent. She had never wanted another flame alchemist in this world. Not in her lifetime and now Mustang had decided to teach Ed, the human embodiment of rash decisions and dangerous plans.

But, as Hawkeye thought about it, she could see the uncertainty on his face and knew that her silence was making him start thinking she didn't have enough faith in him to trust him with her father's work. Besides, Ed wasn't just reckless and brash; he was also kind, loyal, compassionate and a genius. She knew that he was well aware of every pro and con behind flame alchemy and she knew that he would always have the weight of Mustang's and her own expectations on him every time he went to use it and she came to a decision.

"I trust you with my father's work, Ed," she said truthfully and couldn't stop herself from wrapping her good arm around Ed's shoulders and dragging him into a hug. The movement did jar her bad arm but she held back the wince as she felt Ed's arms wrap around her in return. The hug was hesitant at first but he quickly tightened his grip, though not too much in case there was more damage to her torso than just a few bruises.

"Thanks Miss Riza," Ed said before pulling away. "Come on, our luck's held this long and we still have to get you out of here before dealing with Belmont," Ed told her as Havoc took this as his cue to move to Hawkeye's good side, preparing to help her up and support her weight so that she wouldn't damage her feet further.

"I mean it, Edward. I think if I had to choose anyone to learn my father's art, it would've been you," Hawkeye told him as Fuery made his way over to the trio.

"That means a lot. Thank you," Ed flushed a little before pulling himself together and focusing on the situation at hand again. "Back stairs are this way," Ed said, leading them over to their way out. He got on Hawkeye's other side and together he and Havoc shouldered her weight, allowing her to move under her own power, but putting as little weight as possible on her injuries.

Fuery ascended the stairs first and pushed gently on the cellar doors. They didn't budge. He tried again, a little harder, and this time they all heard the faint jangle of a chain. He looked back at Ed with slight panic in his eyes. "They're chained from the outside, Ed," he said.

Ed swore softly and gestured for Fuery to take his place so he could study the situation. The other officer hurried back down and ducked under Hawkeye's arm, taking her weight from Ed as the teen moved up to check the doors himself. He hadn't even noticed the chains when he'd scanned the house, and there wasn't a gap between the doors where he could get his finger through to deconstruct the chain. He thought through his options quickly and realised that they were limited to one option that would be both quick and efficient and swore softly again.

"I'm going to have to deconstruct the doors completely. I can't deconstruct the chain without being able to touch it. The moment I say so, you three need to get out of here. Captain, let Havoc carry you so you don't hurt yourself further. Fuery will cover you while we deal with Belmont."

Hawkeye looked unimpressed at the order, but finally nodded. She glared at Havoc. "If you tell anyone you carried me, I'll shoot you in the kneecap," she threatened and he nodded immediately before scooping her up as carefully as he could.

"Ready?" Ed asked and the three of them nodded. "Brookes, Falman, Breda?" The other three men nodded. "This is going to make a hell of a lot of noise. There's no way Belmont won't hear this. We all need to get out of here. I'll stay and cover you since I'm sure she's going to come down fighting."

He concentrated for a moment before he slammed his hands against the doors and borrowed Scar's technique. Blue energy crackled over the doors as he activated the array, causing the doors to explode outward in a shower of wooden fragments, the heavy chain falling to the ground with a clatter. Ed rushed to the top of the steps – spotting Morgan and Prentiss' stunned expressions – and looked up. He spotted Belmont looking out the window in shock, and he flipped her off before turning his attention to his teammates. "Go!" he shouted, giving exactly zero fucks about staying quiet and keeping their cover now that they no longer had one.

As Mustang's team and Brookes raced up the stairs past them, Edward heard footsteps on the ground floor. Breda was the last one out and Edward leaped past the portly man to the bottom of the cellar stairs, slamming his hands on the ground to form a wall from the stone floor just as the basement door flew open, slamming into the wall. Belmont immediately fired a couple of shots from her gun, but both rounds hit the wall without doing any damage.

Ed allowed himself a sigh of relief for a few seconds before he heard the distinctive sound of chalk on stone and realised that Belmont was drawing an array. "Keep going!" he yelled back at Breda, who had paused. "Get her out of here! I'll cover you!" Breda nodded as Ed's wall exploded and he turned and disappeared out of sight. Edward didn't give Belmont any time to prepare any other array as he touched the floor again, creating a stone fist to knock her back.

Belmont dodged the fist, which impacted the ground behind her. For the moment, Edward held his attack, more interested in putting distance between them while he looked for an opening and covered the others' retreat. He was more interested in making sure that they got Hawkeye out of harm's way, since he _had_ promised Mustang and Grumman that he would get her back safely.

Belmont's face was twisted into a feral, insane expression. Her eyes glinted dangerously with pure anger and hatred. Edward had been told, more than once, that if it was possible to kill someone with a look he would have already killed dozens of people, but the way that Belmont was looking at him – as if she wanted to skin him with just her gaze – made him wonder if such a feat was truly possible.

"You've ruined everything!" Belmont screeched so loudly that Ed jerked backwards. "I will make you _bleed_ for this!" she swore, eyes glinting madly and Ed could see what his brother meant about her mental stability or lack thereof.

"Stop being an idiot, Belmont. You've lost. We have the evidence we need to get Mustang out of prison and send you there in his place and you'll never lay another finger on Captain Hawkeye while I live," Ed snapped at her.

"Then I'll just have to kill you, won't I?" Belmont snarled and launched herself forward, armed with her daggers. Ed hadn't even seen where her gun went but he didn't waste time thinking about it. He ran his hand across his right arm, creating his trusty, reliable blade and offering a mental apology to Mustang as it sliced through and destroyed the ignition glove before he blocked Belmont's first blow.

From the beginning it was apparent that Belmont had the clear advantage in this fight as she was armed with two blades while Ed only had the one and he couldn't be as versatile with it as Belmont was with hers. While she could flip her dagger from a stabbing to slashing motion with a twist of her wrist, Ed wasn't afforded the same privilege, his blade being far more suited to slashing with the movement of his arm. By the time Ed managed to disarm her of one of the daggers and send it flying into a dark corner of the basement, he'd suffered several small cuts to his left arm and face. Belmont tried a vicious stabbing move in retaliation for the loss of her weapon, but Ed was able to block it and now they were far more evenly matched.

She managed to land another deep cut to his upper left arm but instead of stabbing through the flesh like she'd aimed to do, Ed moved just enough for it to simply cut a nasty gash on the side of it. Belmont's balance was momentarily thrown off when she didn't stop moving due to the resistance of Edward's flesh against her weapon like she'd expected. If she'd been facing any other opponent, it wouldn't have been a problem but she was facing an Elric and this one was used to far more painful injuries and wasn't about to let a simple cut stop him.

Ed twisted as she moved to correct her balance, grabbed her wrist with his automail hand and twisted her wrist enough to make her yelp in pain and drop the knife. It would have been simplicity's sake to squeeze and crush her wrist, much as he had with Moore, but he wanted to avoid causing her a debilitating injury, as well as any accusations of unnecessary force. Ed immediately kicked the blade away from her and pushed her back in the same motion.

She was sent stumbling but recovered quickly. Growling like a feral cat, she launched herself at Edward and started fighting with her bare hands. For the first minute, she had Ed on the defensive, partly because he hadn't expected her to fight back without a weapon and partly because Ed was trying his best not to accidentally stab her in face with his automail blade. He needed her alive after all, if they were going to get Mustang out of trouble. After a minute of being purely defensive, he spotted an opening and took advantage of it. Using his left leg, he kicked her backwards long enough for him to retract his blade. Before she could recover, he launched a follow up attack.

He pressed her hard, forcing her to lose ground as he stole it from her. He'd learned from talking to Al that Belmont allowed her emotions to rule her when she fought someone and right now she was exceptionally angry. Despite all of his training (and her lack of it when compared with what Teacher had bestowed on them), Ed still found himself hard-pressed to predict and avoid all of her blows because she wasn't following any type of pattern. If this was how Belmont had fought Al in that alley, it was no wonder that she'd eventually bested him. Of course, Al also wasn't back up to his full fighting strength yet, which had made her task easier.

Wherever possible and whenever given an opening, Ed used alchemy against her, taking advantage of the fact that the floor and walls of the basement were stone – a material much more suited to him than to Belmont. However, that didn't mean that she couldn't use her arrays either. There was wood in the basement in the form of the ceiling, the stairs, and several supporting columns, and she didn't seem to be worried about the house's integrity as she transmuted the material around her.

Ed would later admit that she was _very_ good when it came to transmuting the timber. If it wasn't for the distinct blue flashes of alchemy, he would almost have been willing to swear that she was simply willing the material to form what she wanted with her mind and will alone. Backing off slightly, he slammed his left hand against the stone wall, transmuting three small throwing knives. He threw them with all the precision that Teacher had instilled in him, but she ripped a tread off the stairs and transmuted it into a shield before reforming the wood into six wooden throwing knives.

He flipped out of the way of the first three knives and, with a hand on the ground, transmuted a wall to block the second set. Getting tired of this and wanting to end it, he waited for an opening. A moment later he got one as she launched herself furiously. He slammed his hands against the floor and transmuted another stone hand which he used to slap her down out of the air. She had no way to protect herself, landing hard on the stone floor, where she didn't move again.

Ed took several deep breaths. "Brookes! Get down here, and bring restraints!" he hollered as he transmuted the hand back into the floor so it wouldn't be in their way. He heard someone saying something from the top of the stairs, but he didn't pay any attention to it since they weren't talking to him. He took the opportunity to look at the cut Belmont had landed on his arm. He growled in frustration as he realised there was no way he _wasn't_ getting stitches. Even he knew that the wound was too deep to simply bandage.

"Edward? Are you all right?" Brookes asked as he descended the stairs, handcuffs ready. He was halfway down the stairs, Ed having just turned his attention from his arm in order to answer when Belmont suddenly lurched to her feet and aimed her recovered gun right at Brookes, a vicious smile on her face.

Edward didn't even think, he just _moved_. The next thing he knew, there was a white-hot pain ripping through his left bicep and he knew that the bullet had torn right through it. He heard the bullet splinter into a stair behind him and Brookes yelling his name.

Belmont looked even angrier now that he'd gotten in her way twice and moved to squeeze the trigger a second time, but Edward ignored the pain in his arm, raised his left hand, and _snapped_.

Belmont shrieked as she was forced to dive out of the way of the stream of fire Edward had sent towards her. Ed didn't stay to watch her avoid the flames. He spun immediately and ran for Brookes, crashing into him and forcing the Lieutenant Colonel up the stairs and out of the house so they wouldn't be down there when Belmont recovered from the attack.

"Edward, are you all right?" Brookes asked again once they were clear of the basement and halfway towards where Mustang's team was waiting with Prentiss and Morgan.

Ed allowed himself a moment to try and figure out how he should answer that. He was covered in nicks and small cuts that – while not fatal or painful per say – were stinging horrendously thanks to the sweat running into them. He could feel several bruises, mainly on his torso, slowly forming and just knew he would be stiff and sore tomorrow. Breathing hurt far more than it should and Ed felt the familiar sharp pain which indicated broken ribs. Ed was seriously starting to wonder if he would ever come out of a fight without busted ribs.

Then there were his larger wounds. Most serious was the gash to his arm that was just below the gunshot wound he'd just accumulated. He was also pretty sure he had a decent cut to his right calf muscle that Leah managed to land when Ed had kicked her first blade out of her hands. His head hurt but Ed couldn't remember her landing a blow on it so it was possible he just had a massive headache forming but he reached up with his automail and felt pain bloom horribly from where his hand sat so he had managed to hit his head somewhere along the line, probably when he'd been one of her attacks.

Ed started to answer Brookes when there was an outraged bellow from inside the house and the sound of someone sprinting through it. He realised that Belmont must've fled up what was left of the stairs to escape the flames and was now heading for the back door.

"Get to cover, Brookes," Ed said as he turned to face the door Belmont was heading for. Brookes looked like he wanted to argue but when she burst out of the house at that moment, nearly spitting with rage as all of her attention narrowed right on Edward, Brookes decided the best course of action for him was to cover Ed and try to find an opening to wound her.

"You know flame alchemy?! How fucking dare you?! How dare you wield a power that is rightfully mine?!" Belmont yelled demandingly and Ed actually had to pause to look at her incredulously because was she for real?

"Flame alchemy isn't mine and it isn't yours. I've been entrusted with its secrets because I've proven I _can_ be trusted with them. If you weren't so fucking bat-shit crazy, you might've been taught it too," Ed taunted her. Her answering shriek made him wonder if she was trying to turn them all deaf.

Belmont slammed her left hand into the ground and transmuted an earthen fist that rose and went straight for Ed, who answered the attack by placing his automail hand in its path and using Scar's favourite transmutation the moment the earth touched his palm, causing it to disintegrate on the spot. A shot rang out from somewhere on Ed's right but the bullet missed. Belmont, on the other hand, tried to send a slab of earth towards the shooter, only for Ed to stop it with a stone wall of his own. That action brought her attention back to him.

Ed knew he was limited in what he could do now. His left arm was too hurt to be of any use and he'd never been more grateful for the fact that he didn't have to clap to transmute any more than he was in this moment as he created small, stone daggers and hurled them at Belmont, who predictably evaded them with a roll to the side. All Ed could do now was hope he'd get an opening or that one of his teammates would. Even though this fight wasn't happening in America, Ed's alchemic energy still drained quickly here if he wasn't careful and he certainly didn't want this fight to go on long enough that he dropped from alchemic exhaustion.

While the same was true for Belmont, it was clear that she was past the point of caring, and her manic anger was actually going to give her far more energy than Edward would be able to counter without letting go of the discipline and control Teacher had drilled into him.

Belmont retaliated by using the wooden boards that made up the outside of her childhood home to create her own projectiles and Ed made a wave of earth that curved up in front of him and spanned the entire width of the house to swallow the wooden weapons and sink immediately back into the earth. He then called on the stone within the earth once more to create pillars in an effort to block Leah from being able to escape only to watch her climb them, alchemise a blade half the length of her forearm out of the wooden wall behind her and launch herself off her platform and come at him.

Ed was quick to call up the iron from the ground to fashion his own bladed weapon in time to meet Belmont's and block it from slashing into his throat. Despite his best efforts though, he hadn't managed to block it completely and he felt something warm and wet trickle down his throat and soak into his black shirt and knew he'd been cut. The position of the cut didn't feel like it was near his jugular vein or carotid artery so he didn't think he was in danger of bleeding out for the moment.

Belmont growled in frustration when her knife was stopped before it could properly pierce his throat and Ed used the opportunity to get a slash of his own in and cut open her cheek. It was a deep wound and would certainly scar. It was obviously painful if the way Belmont howled was any indication. Ed didn't give her the chance to recover. He kept up his attack, nicking her a few times but she was very good with a knife and Ed gained a few new cuts of his own. Despite the material her weapon was made out of, it wasn't overly damaged by the blade Ed had created and Ed would grudgingly admit he was impressed with her alchemic skill. If she hadn't been so crazy, he would have liked to learn from her, since her affinity with her chosen element was greater than many other alchemists he'd met during his time with the military. He'd be more impressed if the wooden blade's creator wasn't trying to kill him and the others though, of course.

* * *

"Put me down," Hawkeye ordered once they were clear of the basement. Havoc looked like he wanted to protest, but he seemed to realise how serious the order was, and he moved over to where the two agents were guarding the rear of the house.

Havoc set Hawkeye down a good distance from the entrance to the basement before pulling his weapon and training it on the opening, ready in case Belmont managed to somehow overpower Ed or slip past his defenses to try and get to Hawkeye. Fuery was standing on Hawkeye's other side so he wouldn't block her view and she would be able to see what was going on.

The agents had moved from their positions so all six of them now surrounded the back of the house, making sure they weren't in the way of Havoc, Hawkeye or Fuery. Breda, Falman and Brookes stood positioned in between them all, providing extra cover. Rossi and Morgan were closest to the house so they could get around to the front quickly, if needed.

Flashes of blue lit up the basement and poured light out of the gaping entrance momentarily as the two alchemists inside the house fought. It took all their self-control and rational thought to keep themselves from going into the basement, knowing they would only be a hindrance to Ed, rather than a help when they heard pained noises. They finally saw a flash of blue, heard something that could only have been a body hitting the ground and a call for Brookes to get down there. The sound of Ed's voice had everyone relaxing slightly.

But then there was a gunshot and Brookes' yell of Ed's name. Before anyone outside the basement could react in any way, they heard a familiar snap and a shriek of fear as the basement glowed orange before they finally saw Brookes being shoved out of the basement by Edward and the sense of relief from everyone at the sight of the blond was evident in the air, even if his clothing was nearly more torn than it was whole and sticking to him in some places, glistening wetly as the moonlight reflected off the blood.

Rossi and Morgan had headed for the front of the house in case Belmont tried to escape via the front door while Brookes questioned if Ed was alright. The blond hadn't answered immediately but Mustang's team knew that that was because he was mentally cataloguing his injuries so he would know how to answer. Before he could answer though, there was an angered shout from inside the house and Ed pushed Brookes towards everyone, telling him to get back before turning to face the threat. Brookes hadn't moved right away but he got out of the way when the back door slammed open.

Belmont emerged, looking pissed and beyond all rational thought. In true Elric fashion, Edward responded to her insane screams with his typical level of brutal truth covered by a layer of sarcasm. Belmont didn't take the retort well and launched herself at Edward again. An earthen fist appeared which Ed deconstructed the moment it touched his palm. A shot rang out from one of the agents, but missed Belmont, who responded by sending a slab of earth towards JJ, Hotch and Havoc. Ed countered by raising a stone wall in front of them and stopping her attack. When her attention was back on him, he threw some daggers at her and she dodged before creating wooden weapons of her own and sending them at him. The agents watched on in awe as Ed created an earthen wave that rose up, caught Belmont's attack and sank back down in the space of a few seconds.

Before Belmont could try and use another attack, Ed sent stone pillars her way and the agents watched as it looked like Ed might've gained the upper hand only to watch Leah use one of the pillars as a platform and alchemise a dagger out of her house's wall and launch herself at Ed. They were a little surprised to see Ed alchemise a blade of his own from the metal in the ground rather than his automail before they realised he wouldn't have been able to. With the wounds he'd gotten on that arm, he wouldn't be able to raise it enough to alchemise his automail. They also noted that in this case having a blade that wasn't attached to him seemed to work far better for him.

Despite how quickly he was able to transmute the blade into existence and raise it to block Belmont's attack, he wasn't quick enough to block it completely and they watched in horror at her blade made a cut on Ed's neck. The blond barely grimaced as he pushed Belmont back enough to slice open her cheek in retaliation. Hawkeye's eyes narrowed on the sight of the blood that leaked from his neck wound and felt her protective instincts flare up.

"Fuery, give me your pistol," Hawkeye ordered. To his credit, Fuery didn't question or resist the order, just handed her his weapon and took a couple of steps back so he was out of her way and better protected now that he was weaponless.

Hawkeye shifted into a slightly better position before raising her borrowed gun and taking careful aim, waiting for Ed to give her the opening she needed. She knew it had to be a non-fatal wound so she kept her gun trained below Belmont's waist so that if Belmont twisted in the last moment, the bullet would be less likely to hit something vital.

* * *

Every move Ed made was causing his various wounds to become more painful but his upper left arm and shoulder were absolute agony and Ed came to the very quick decision that he didn't like being shot. This was further reinforcement of an opinion he'd held for some time, since it wasn't the first time that he'd been shot since becoming a State Alchemist. Belmont could sense he was struggling a little and tried to use that to her advantage but Ed refused to give her any chance to turn the tide in this fight. His determination (_stubbornness, _Al would have said, had he been there) was too great to give in now.

Ed spotted Hawkeye on the ground with Havoc and Fuery standing guard though Fuery no longer had his weapon drawn. Ed used his automail elbow and drove it into Belmont's rib cage, pushing her off him and hearing the satisfying crack of at least two ribs breaking though she managed to give him a good cut on his side, just below where he'd been impaled as Baschool before she went stumbling. A look over at Fuery again while Belmont recovered showed that while he wasn't holding his weapon, Hawkeye _was_.

A grim, slightly feral smile crossed his face at the sight of Hawkeye with a weapon. This fight was over, and Belmont didn't even realise it yet. There was a _very_ good reason why the Captain had earned the reputation and moniker of "The Hawk's Eye". Now all he needed to do was provide her with an opening.

Ed got his chance only moments later when Belmont decided to charge him. Under any other circumstances, Ed would've tried to figure out the reasoning behind the move but he seriously didn't think there was anything other than just fury and desperation behind it. Remember all the lessons Teacher had drilled into him about "the circulation of power", Edward moved. In one fluid movement, Ed sidestepped the charging woman and her dagger, twisted and used his automail arm to push the shoulder closest to him and send her veering massively off course to face Hawkeye. A shot rang out and Belmont howled in agony as the bullet tore through her thigh, missing the bone but causing plenty of damage, nonetheless.

Ed had expected the woman to go down immediately but her leg barely buckled and Ed realised the adrenaline coursing through her veins must have been potent enough to allow her to ignore the bullet wound and keep her feet. Before she could turn around, Ed was behind her. He dropped low and kicked the wounded leg out from underneath her, sending her crashing to the earth with an inhuman screech. Ed took a few steps to the side and slammed his automail hand into the ground. Two twin flashes of alchemic energy surrounded Leah's hands and soon her wrists were encased in stone cuffs, pinning her securely to the ground.

Belmont tried to struggle against her bonds and get away from Ed as he crawled closer to her. She hurled insults and threats, becoming increasingly hysterical and demented in her screams but Ed paid her no mind. Instead, he touched the metal cuffs with her arrays on them, starting with her left, and severing them from her wrists. "Brookes?" Ed called and the Lieutenant Colonel was by his side immediately. "I'll release her wrists one at a time. You ready?" Ed asked and Brookes pulled out a set of restraints made for alchemists.

"Ready," Brookes confirmed and Ed transmuted the stone from her left wrist first. Brookes grabbed her wrist tightly and didn't let go, no matter how much Belmont struggled against him. He gave Ed a nod to show he was ready for Ed to release her other wrist.

"Here we go," Ed warned him then touched the stone with his fingers and watched as the blue alchemic energy crackled along the stone before the stone seemed to melt away.

"Major Leah Belmont, you are under arrest for suspicion of the murder of Colonel Frank Chambers, the kidnapping and assault of Captain Riza Hawkeye, the assault of Alphonse Elric, and resisting arrest. At this time, you will be temporarily stripped of your rank; however, if you are found innocent of all charges your rank will be reinstated without penalty. You have the right to your own attorney if you wish, but if you cannot afford one the military will appoint you one. You have the right to remain silent as anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. Do you understand your rights as I've explained them to you?" Brookes recited as he pulled Leah's left wrist in front of her while Ed did the same with her right one and Brookes placed them both in the board before locking it shut, all completely one handed. Ed was a little impressed.

"Let me go! I didn't do anything wrong! That bastard deserves to be locked away for stealing from me! That bitch of a captain deserved worse than what she got," Belmont snarled as she put all of her effort into trying to wrench herself free of Brookes' iron grip on her upper arm. Ed was two seconds away from repeating what he had done to Moore and knocking the woman out, but a hand grabbed his automail arm and he was pulled away from them both before he could go through with it.

"Edward, are you alright?" JJ asked as she pulled him away from the insane alchemist and Brookes and started fussing over him. "Oh my god, Ed, _how_ are you still standing?" JJ asked in horror as she assessed his injuries.

"Don't worry JJ; this isn't the worst I've been through. It takes a lot more effort to take an Elric out than what she tried," Ed told her with a tired attempt at a cocky grin.

"Damn, chief, you don't do things by halves, do you?" Havoc whistled, casting an impressed eye over his injuries as he helped Hawkeye hobble over carefully. Ed could see that someone had torn up one of their jackets and used the scraps of cloth to cushion her injured feet so she wouldn't be putting too much pressure on them. Havoc's jacket was gone so Ed assumed his was the one used. Of course, even with the padding, the impromptu wrappings didn't stop Hawkeye from needing both Havoc and Fuery to help her.

"Edward," Hawkeye didn't say anything more than his name but Ed had personally never seen Hawkeye so shocked and concerned about his health before. Granted, Ed mused, he wasn't sure Hawkeye had ever seen him before the doctors managed to patch him up, with the exception of the Promised Day.

"I'm fine, Captain. Seriously," Ed told the disbelieving agents. Hotch and Rossi were helping Brookes haul Belmont to her feet but Ed could see the three men glancing over with worried looks at him while keeping firm grips on the struggling Belmont.

"I'll be the judge of that, chief," Havoc told him, beckoning Morgan over to take some of Hawkeye's weight so Havoc could do a proper examination, "and from what I can already see, you and your brother will be sharing hospital rooms," he grinned at Ed's groan of despair.

"Doc Evans is gonna end up wrapping me in bubble wrap or ordering Mustang to keep me chained to a desk. Please don't do that to me, Havoc!" Ed pleased, only half serious. Havoc laughed at him before using his flashlight to look Ed over.

"I really need to use something to clean you up with before I can say anything for certain but you probably won't die before we get the cars back," Havoc told him and Ed flattened him with a flat stare.

"Cheers, Havoc," Ed drawled before shaking his head. "Someone's going to have to go find the cars. I can't signal them since I can't lift one arm and I kind of destroyed the other glove so the original plan is out," Ed told him. Havoc gave him an exasperated look that Ed responded to with a sheepish smile that had Havoc rolling his eyes in return.

"I'll ask Falman and one of the agents to go and get the cars," he said with a shake of his head.

"That'd be great. Thanks Havoc," Ed said gratefully. The lieutenant headed over to where Falman and Reid were standing together and sent them off to get the cars. Ed turned to the three men trying to keep Belmont under control. "How about we move to the front of the house with her? That way we can get her in the car as soon as possible," he suggested. Of course, the _real_ reason he wanted to move to the front was so that he could sit down somewhere, but he'd only ever admit that on pain of death.

"That's a good idea, Ed," Hotch said but Ed had the annoying feeling that Hotch knew why he was truly suggesting they relocate.

Hotch and Brookes each grabbed one of Belmont's biceps and picked her up, forcing her to walk – as much as she could with a bullet wound in her leg, that is – or be dragged along bodily. Her screams and threats had disintegrated to unintelligible sobs, but Edward could guess what she was saying and he knew none of it would be particularly flattering to him or any of the others.

He didn't bother to put up a struggle when Breda suddenly appeared and pulled his automail over his own shoulder, helping him follow everyone else out to the front of the house. Breda kept a secure hold on him, not voicing his worry as the blond seemed to sag more each moment, leaning more and more of his weight onto the portly officer. Soon enough, they were greeted by headlights shining into their eyes as well as a car pulled up in front of the house. However, Falman and Reid weren't the ones who climbed out, nor were there two more cars following close behind.

"Good timing," Brookes said sincerely as his team approached him, waiting for their orders. "Head into the house and start searching for evidence. We suspect Major Belmont is the one behind the murder of Frank Chambers and framing General Mustang for the murders of the others. Take photos of _everything_ you find, but be careful of any traps. You all know the drill, but make sure you do absolutely everything by the book." He looked over at Ed. "Do you have the search warrant, Lieutenant Colonel Elric?"

Edward nodded. "They're in my red coat. When Falman and Reid get back with the cars, I'll get them for you." Brookes nodded and settled in to wait, but fortunately they didn't have to wait long. Falman and Reid must have moved quickly, because less than a minute later three more cars pulled up along the curb opposite the house. Falman and Reid climbed out of the middle car, Falman holding Edward's coat.

"Falman, can you give Brookes the warrants? They're in my…" Ed paused to think for a moment, "…left front pocket." Falman nodded and rifled through the jacket, producing the documents and handing them off without a word.

"Thanks, Lieutenant Falman," Brookes said when Falman handed him the warrants. Falman gave him a nod before heading towards Ed and Breda. "Here's the warrant. I'll be accompanying the accused to the hospital with everyone else, but I'll come back once I've arranged guards to keep an eye on her." Brookes handed the paper over to the Lieutenant Clarke before gesturing them to get started.

There was a sudden flash of blue alchemic light that startled everyone, and made them look over at Ed, Falman, and Breda. Falman now held what _used_ to be Edward's coat, but which the blond alchemist had reduced into long strips that could be used as makeshift bandages. Havoc joined them immediately and Breda supported Edward while they removed his black jacket and exposed his multitude of injuries. Nearly everyone winced at the sight of all of the blood coating the teen's torso.

"I can already tell you that you'll be getting stitches for at least half of these injuries," Havoc told him as he started bandaging him up as best he could.

"Of course I will be," Ed whined before hissing as Havoc tugged a little more painfully than he expected to secure the bandage in place.

"Sorry, chief," Havoc winced in sympathy.

"Morgan and I will go with Brookes and Belmont in one of the cars to the hospital," Hotch announced before giving Ed a look. "You and Captain Hawkeye should get to the hospital as soon as you're finished getting patched up," he told him.

"Don't worry, Mr. Hotchner. He'll be going to the hospital just as soon as Lieutenant Havoc is done," Hawkeye told him. Her tone made it _very_ clear that Ed was not allowed to argue with her so he didn't even bother with a token protest. He did pout though, which caused Havoc to ruffle his hair gently.

Morgan and Rossi switched places so that Rossi was the one helping Hawkeye while Morgan was lending his strength to helping Hotch and Brookes drag the still-sobbing and struggling Belmont towards the first car. Despite the restraints and her injuries, she was putting up a terrific struggle, and her sobbing screams were getting louder and more piercing the longer it took the three men to get her secured. Edward tuned out her screeches of protest as he tugged up his black tank top so that Havoc could bandage the cut on the right side of his abdomen, just below his ribs. He heard Havoc mutter something, but thanks to his exhaustion he could only stare at the older man dumbly, unable to make out the words.

"Lift your head up, Chief. I need to look at your neck," Havoc repeated, waiting patiently for the instructions to sink in to Edward's exhaustion-fogged brain. After a moment, Edward did as he was told. The movement caused the wound to bleed a little more freely, but after probing it gently with his fingers for a moment, Havoc was quick to wrap it with the last couple of strips of material. The feel of the bandage made Edward stiffen sharply for a moment as his mind flashed back to Haggar nearly strangling him during their fight, but Havoc loosened it a little with a quick apology and a comment about not wanting it to be too tight. "All done," Havoc announced and Ed sighed in relief.

"Thanks Havoc," Ed said, giving the older man a quick smile.

"Anytime, Chief. Let's get you and Captain Hawkeye to the hospital before you fall asleep on your feet or pass out from blood loss," Havoc teased lightly, though his eyes gave away his worry.

"No chance I can bribe all of you into not telling Al about this?" Ed asked, only half-jokingly. His brother was either going to tear him a new one for being so reckless or smother him with his motherhenning ways.

"And miss the rant that'll follow? Not a chance," Havoc told him and Ed's resigned sigh had most of them chuckling.

Breda had taken up his self-assigned task of being Ed's crutch and helped him limp towards the car Brookes' team had arrived in. Hawkeye was helped by Rossi in first before he took a seat opposite her. Ed slid in next to Hawkeye before Breda and Havoc both followed, sitting next to Rossi. JJ sat on Ed's other side, leaving Reid, Prentiss, Falman and Fuery to head over to one of the other cars but not before Ed asked Falman to let the last driver know to stay there, just in case Brookes' team needed a car.

"Are you okay, Captain?" Ed asked when Hawkeye gave a small twitch of pain when she shifted her splinted arm closer to her body to lessen the impact the car's movements had on it.

"I'll be fine, Edward," Hawkeye as she used her unbroken hand to push Ed's gold bangs out of his eyes and looked at a cut he had on his temple. Ed didn't stop his reaction of leaning slightly into her touch and Hawkeye didn't pull her hand away immediately. She pushed his hair back once more before retracting her hand.

"I almost hope Doc Evans isn't scheduled to work tonight," Ed groaned, causing Havoc and Breda to laugh at him.

"Yeah, right, Chief. You always seem to get hurt on his shifts," Havoc told him, causing Ed to groan again because he really couldn't argue against that.

"That's the name of General Armstrong's doctor, right?" Rossi asked and Ed nodded. "Why don't you want him?"

"Because Doctor Evans has an uncanny ability to stop Edward from escaping the hospital _before_ he's given the all clear to do so," Hawkeye told him before Ed could say anything.

"Hospitals are boring and I'm never hurt enough that I need to stay there instead of researching," Ed whined but Hawkeye's flat look didn't change.

"You won't be leaving this time until you're discharged either," JJ piped up, using her mum voice to show him how serious she was.

"I doubt I'll even be admitted. I just need stitches," Ed told her and JJ looked disbelievingly at him.

"Ed, you got shot," she reminded him. "I doubt they'll just let you walk out of the hospital."

"It's just a flesh wound," Ed said dismissively. "The only real reason they could admit me is because I hit my head but I don't have a concussion so I really doubt they will. They know I know how to deal with one anyway," Ed told her.

"You know that now that you've said that, you're going to end up getting admitted for at least the day, right?" Havoc asked, smirking at him.

"Yeah, that would happen, knowing my luck," Ed muttered as he leant back into the car seat. JJ gripped his hand and squeezed it in what Ed thought was supposed to a kindly gesture but the look on her face was pure concern so Ed squeezed her hand back, even though the movement made all of his wounds on that arm flare up in pain. At least the nurses would be nice enough at the hospital and give him painkillers before they even went to get the doctor.

* * *

"Edward Elric, what have you done to yourself now?" Nurse Emma demanded the moment Breda half-helped, half-dragged Ed through the doors of the hospital, followed by Rossi and Havoc helping Hawkeye and JJ hovering in between them. She hurried over towards him from where she'd been standing near the receptionist's desk.

"I may have been shot. And stabbed. At least twice," Ed told her, with a half smirk. Emma did not look impressed with him.

"You're lucky. Doctor Evans is working tonight," she ignored Ed's groan as she turned to Breda. "You can bring him to examination room four. Lindsey," a nurse who was walking passed her turned at the sound of her name and her eyes widened when she took in Ed's appearance, "go and get Doctor Evans and tell him the older Elric is about to be admitted, please," she ordered and Lindsey nodded before leaving.

"Nurse Emma, I really don't need to be admitted," Ed whined. He straightened up suddenly when he didn't hear the reprimand he expected from Hawkeye. "Wait, who's going to look after Captain Hawkeye?" he asked as looked over at the captain, who was being helped towards a different room by Rossi, Havoc and a third nurse who had suddenly materialized.

"Caitlyn will take her to another examination room. Doctor Roberts will likely be her attending doctor," Emma told him as Breda helped him limp into the room Emma was standing next too.

"Oh, good," Ed said as he sat on the bed as directed. "I'm still not getting admitted," Ed informed her stubbornly, giving her a glare when she laughed.

"That's up to the doctor, not you," she told him, patting him lightly on the head and causing him to swat at her, though he was careful not to hit her with his automail. "Oh, that reminds me, do we need to call your mechanic?" she asked as she watched Ed put his hand back on the bed before she handed him some painkillers and a cup of water.

"Nah, I'll be heading back to Resembool within the week. I'll have them checked on then to make sure there was no damage. I'm due for a service anyway," Ed told her with a smile as he accepted the drugs and swallowed them.

"Okay. Let's get these bandages," she looked at the scraps of his jacket like it physically pained her to call them bandages, "and get you cleaned up. Your friend can go wait with the others in your group in the waiting room or he is welcome to go and see your brother," Emma said, carefully unravelling the bandage around the cut on his calf first and it was obvious who she was talking to.

"I might go to the waiting room first and tell them you haven't managed to escape already," Breda said with a grin at Ed, "before I go pay Al a visit. Someone should tell him you're here as a patient before he hears the rumours," Breda said pointedly.

"Good idea. Make him stay in his bloody room though. Last thing we need is him hurting himself because he tried to lecture me before I could go see him," Ed rolled his eyes. Breda laughed but agreed to tie Al down if he needed to.

The next few minutes were a haze of prodding and mild pain as Emma assessed his injuries and did a more thorough job of cleaning him up than Havoc had been able to do out at Belmont's house. It took some arguing before Emma was able to get Edward to remove his tank top, pants, and shoes, but she prevailed in the end.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric, you'd nearly broken your record for longest period of time between fights with people who want to kill you," Evans sighed as he walked through the door.

"What can I say, Doc? Criminals keep refusing to surrender when I catch up to them," Ed shrugged and grinned when his nonchalant attitude made Evans roll his eyes.

"What's the damage this time?" Evans asked Emma, who had just finished cleaning the wound on Edward's neck with some gauze and sterile alcohol.

"He's got several minor cuts on his arm and face. There's a deep laceration on his left arm, just above his elbow, another one on his right abdomen and a third on his right calf muscle. He also has a cut on his neck but it looks worse than it is and didn't sever any major veins or arteries. He's been shot in his left bicep but it's through and through. He has three broken ribs, two on his left side, one on his right and a head wound," Emma summed up for the doctor.

"Did you lose consciousness at all?" Evans asked.

"Nope. I didn't even know I had it until I got a chance to breathe," Ed told him cheerfully as he sat back up on the exam table.

"Well, I doubt you have a concussion in that case," Evans told him. Ed didn't look surprised and Evans realised it was likely because the teenager had more experience with concussions than he did at this point. He started his own examination, paying careful attention to the wounds that Emma had indicated, but also looking for any that she might have missed in her examination.

"Is someone taking care of Belmont?" Ed asked casually as he watched Evans poking at his wounds. Thanks to his supremely high pain tolerance, the only outward sign of pain or discomfort was the occasional twitch when Evans touched a particularly tender spot. There was nothing like losing your arm and leg in an alchemy accident, and then undergoing automail surgery to give one a very high pain tolerance for anything else after all.

"Doctor Allen is the one taking care of her, I believe," Evans told him. The doctor's fingers were cold where they rested on Edward's chin as he pushed Edward's head down and to the left so he could get a proper look at the neck wound. "I believe they ended up having to sedate her so they could tend to her injuries without fear of being abused or injured."

"No one got hurt by her, right?" Edward asked, worry in his eyes. Emma almost cooed at his concern.

"No one got hurt," she assured him, handing an alcohol swab to Evans as the doctor cleaned up his neck from the dried blood still clinging to his skin, despite Havoc's best efforts.

"Good. So what's the verdict, Doc?" Edward asked as Evans wrapped up his examination.

"You're going to be kept in observation with your brother until lunchtime and if you complain about it, I'll make sure you're kept until tomorrow morning," Evans threatened as Ed opened his mouth, undoubtedly so he could complain. He snapped it shut and pouted when Emma giggled. "You need stitches for your arm, abdomen, and calf. You should be able to get away with just a dressing on your neck since I'd prefer it if you didn't rip any stitches out of that wound and you don't have the best track record with stitches," Evans said and Ed nodded in complete agreement. The only stitches he'd ever had that had survived the duration they were supposed to had been the ones Lance had given him after the fight with Haggar. "We'll wrap your head and bind your ribs to stabilise them. You will need to be in a sling for at least a month to make sure the gunshot wound gets a chance to heal properly and so that you'll be less likely to rip the stitches in that gash," Evans told him and Ed sighed.

"So, no missions for at least a month?" Ed asked sullenly and Evans did look sympathetic at his melancholic look.

"At least," Evans agreed. "I'll want you back in one week so I can check the progress of your neck injury and three weeks to check over the rest of you," Evans told him and Ed nodded.

"All right. I should be back from Resembool before the week is up since I'm due for an automail service," Ed said.

"Good. I'll leave you in Emma's capable hands while I organise your admittance paperwork and have a second bed put in your brother's room," Evans told him, removing his gloves.

"Cheers, doc. I promise not to try and escape until after lunch," Ed swore and Evans fixed him with a flat look.

"You'll not leave until I say so. I'll tell your brother and your team about when you're allowed to leave," Evans told him and Ed looked betrayed.

"That's low, doc," Ed said, though his tone was merely amused.

"Whatever it takes to make sure you that you don't injure yourself further. I don't need you trying to break your record of shortest time between admittances," Evans drawled before leaving the room with a nod to Emma.

"Should I be insulted at his lack of faith in me?" Ed asked rhetorically, causing Emma to snort.

"Oh, Edward, he just worries about you. He doesn't like that you're his most frequent patient," Emma told him as she filled a syringe with a local anesthetic and injected it into his arm. "Ready for your stitches?" she asked after a few moments while she gathered the supplies she would need. Ed poked his arm where she'd injected him and nodded.

"Sure am," Ed told her, giving her a grin when he saw her roll her eyes at his 'test' to see if his arm was numb before she started on the gash.

* * *

"Do I at least get to make a phone call before you lock me in my cell? Oops, I meant my hospital room?" Ed asked as he was wheeled by Emma to Al's – and now his – hospital room. He'd been given some hospital pajamas to get changed into while what remained of his clothing and boots were placed in bags and sat on his lap.

"You think you're funny," Emma told him before steering him towards the phones and stepped away from his temporary wheelchair that he had said he didn't need but Emma practically forced him into. "I'll wait just over there," Emma told him, pointing at a group of three chairs sitting against the wall.

"Okay," Ed said as he stood, placed his gear on the seat, and put all of his weight on his left leg before grabbing the phone and dialing the number he wanted. It rang twice before it was picked up. "Hey, Miss Samantha. It's Edward Elric. Is the Führer still in?" he asked.

"_Edward! Of course, just let me put you through,"_ Samantha told him.

"Thanks, Miss Samantha," Ed said before he was transferred. The phone barely rang once before it was picked up.

"_Lieutenant Colonel Elric, what happened?"_ Grumman asked.

"I got her back," Ed told him and the sigh of relief Grumman gave was so big it caused the phone line to crackle. "She's hurt but not too badly. I haven't seen her or her doctors yet but you should be able to get a sit-rep if you call the hospital and ask for a Doctor Roberts," Ed told him.

"_Thank you, Ed. How are you?"_ Grumman asked and Ed chuckled a little sheepishly.

"Well, Belmont really didn't like the fact that we found her hideout and she certainly didn't want to come quietly," Ed told him and this time Grumman's sigh was one of resignation.

"_How badly hurt are you?"_ Grumman asked, worry evident in his voice, which was something Ed was surprised about.

"Not too badly. The doc wants to keep me here until lunchtime and I'm in a sling for at least a month. Belmont managed to shoot me but it's only a flesh wound and she broke some ribs. They really only want me here for observation and to punish me for getting hurt," Ed told him, glaring venomlessly at Emma, who merely rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion.

"_The doctors only have your health in mind, Lieutenant Colonel Elric,"_ Grumman informed him, sounding far too amused. _"I take it Belmont is in custody?"_

"Yeah, she's laid up in hospital too and it is one hundred percent, without a doubt, her fault," Ed told him with conviction. Grumman's cough sounded suspiciously like laughter.

"_Good to hear you weren't too badly hurt, Edward. I'll phone the hospital and enquire after Riza and Belmont myself. Do as your doctors tell you. Consider it an order if you must,"_ Grumman told him kindly and Ed sighed internally.

"Sure thing, Führer Grumman. Oh, is Mustang gonna be released tonight?" Ed asked.

"_Did Lieutenant Colonel Brookes formally charge Major Belmont with the same crimes Mustang was?"_ Grumman asked.

"No, she was only charged for Al, Hawkeye, Chambers and resisting arrest," Ed told him. Grumman let out a disappointed sigh.

"_Unfortunately, until she is charged with those crimes, I cannot authorise Mustang's release. I imagine Lieutenant Colonel Brookes is overseeing his team and will call me the moment he has proof that she was behind the murders and assault and I will expedite the paperwork for Mustang's release,"_ Grumman promised him and Ed sighed slightly.

"All right. I suppose it won't kill him to spend another night in the cell. Might make him miss his paperwork even more, which will be a big help for Captain Hawkeye," Ed said and Grumman let out another suspicious-sounding laugh. "I'll make sure someone from the team goes to see him tonight and tells him what happened," Ed told him.

"_Thank you, Edward. I'll leave you to the capable hands of the hospital staff and I expect you in my office the moment you're released," _Grumman told him.

"Yes, Sir. Have a good night, Führer Grumman," Ed said. Grumman bade him a good night as well before they hung up on each other. "Alright, let's head to the room so my brother can yell at and fuss over me," Ed grumbled as Emma approached him. She grabbed his bags and held them until he was sitting back in the chair before handing them over.

"Maybe if you didn't wind up in the hospital as frequently as you do, Edward, your brother might not fuss and rant as much," Emma pointed out, holding back a grin. Ed didn't bother acknowledging that comment with a response.

* * *

"You are the single worst person to send to arrest someone!" Alphonse yelled the moment he saw Edward being wheeled in. Ed wasn't even surprised. What he was surprised about was the fact that nearly everyone who'd been at the Belmont house was packed into the room. Emma didn't say a word, even though they certainly exceeded the amount of visitors any one patient could receive at a time. "You always end up injured and in the hospital and you always make me worry! Why are you in a wheelchair? Don't tell me you managed to damage your leg! Winry will murder you and I'll hold you down so she can!" Al went from ranting to fussing then back to ranting so smoothly, it was nearly an art form.

"Would you calm down and breathe for two seconds?" Ed laughed as he climbed onto his bed. "My automail is fine, Winry won't kill me and I was in the chair because I got stitches in my calf and Emma is mean," Ed told him.

"You be nice to Emma. Heaven knows she has to put up with you far too much as it is," Al berated him.

"Thank you, Alphonse. Doctor Evans will be in to check on you both in a couple of hours," Emma told them as she set up and inserted an I.V into Ed's arm, setting the sling on the small table at the foot of his bed before checking on Al's I.V. line.

"Thanks, Nurse Emma," the Elrics chorused together. She gave them a grin before she addressed their visitors.

"You can stay here until Doctor Evans has done his check up on these two, but then you must leave," she told them and received nods and confirmations. Happy with their agreement, Emma left the room.

"Hey, would someone be willing to go and tell Mustang that we got Hawkeye back and didn't die?" Ed asked before Al could begin fussing at him again.

"Sure, I'll go," Breda volunteered.

"I'll go with him," Falman said.

"Awesome. Thank you." The two men nodded at Ed's thanks and left the hospital room. "Where are Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh?" Ed asked, noticing the two weren't in the room.

"Brookes asked if they wouldn't mind guarding Belmont so he could head out to help his team," Al told him. "Now that you have Belmont in custody, they didn't think I needed a bodyguard."

"Oh, well, if they can handle guarding us, they can handle that nutbag," Ed said, causing Al to crack a small grin. "What about Captain Hawkeye?"

"She's getting her arm put in a cast and her feet X-rayed but she promised she'd come and see you two once she was allowed to," Rossi told him.

"She's okay, though?" Ed asked and Rossi gave him a nod. Ed relaxed against his pillows at that. "Awesome. Alright, Al, ask your questions," Ed said as he squirmed down in his bed to get as comfortable as possible.

"You got shot?" Al asked and Ed nodded.

"Yup. It's just a flesh wound though. I'll be stuck in a sling for at least a month though," Ed grumbled.

"Ribs?" Al didn't even have to say more than that.

"Three," Ed told him and Al let out an exasperated sigh.

"Can't you ever not break ribs in one of your fights? I'm surprised your ribcage hasn't collapsed yet," Al said and Ed let out a bark of laughter.

"I asked myself the same question when I'd realised I'd busted them," Ed said with a grin. Al just rolled his eyes.

"Your automail is definitely okay?" Al asked, worried his brother would be released from hospital only to be brained by Winry's wrench.

"Yes, Al. I won't be killed by the wrench-wielding witch just yet. I am going to have her check on them though when we head to Resembool after Mustang's out. They're about due for a service," Ed told him and he relaxed slightly.

"Alright, brother," Al said and Ed waited a few moments before looking at him incredulously. Al noticed and frowned. "What?" he asked and Ed gaped for a second.

"Is that it?" Al's frown grew deeper. "No rant or lecture or whatever you normally do when I wind up in here?" Ed asked while some of those still in the room hid their amused grins behind their hands.

"No. I'm fairly certain Doctor Evans and Nurse Emma would've already taken care of that for me. Besides," Al gave him an innocent-not-innocent smile, "I'm gonna let Elysia lecture you instead," he told him and that earned some choked laughs from the remaining members of Mustang's team.

"You're evil," Ed complained. "But I will be paying the favour back immediately. You were injured in a fight as well, little brother," Ed reminded him, grinning sharply. Al's face fell.

"Oh, I didn't think of that," he admitted and both Havoc and Fuery couldn't hold back their laughter.

"Elysia is your adopted sister, right?" JJ asked.

"Kind of," Edward said. "After the Promised Day, Miss Gracia insisted that I stay with her and Elysia while Al was recovering, and Elysia latched on to me as a big brother. After Al was released, we were going to find lodgings somewhere else in the city, but Gracia asked us to continue to stay with her. She said there wasn't any point in us spending money on an apartment or a hotel when she had an extra room and Elysia loved having two big brothers around."

"Why are you using her as a threat against each other?" JJ asked, curiously.

"Elysia doesn't like us getting into fights with bad guys because we – well, mainly Brother – get injured and she doesn't like seeing us hurt, so she lectures us – again, mainly Brother – about how fighting is bad," Al told her, ignoring his brother's cries of protest.

"She sounds like a good kid," Morgan said and both brothers had a proud smile on their face.

"She really is," Ed said. "Certainly better than we were at her age," he joked and Al laughed as he agreed. They were all distracted by the door being opened.

"Captain Hawkeye!" The two boys exclaimed when they saw who was being wheeled into their room by Lindsey, the nurse from earlier. Lindsey whispered something to Hawkeye before wheeling her so she was sitting in between the two beds and facing the door. The nurse gave everyone a smile before she left, telling Hawkeye to have someone fetch a nurse when she was ready to leave.

"It's still creepy when you two do that," Morgan muttered to the boys once Lindsey left and JJ hit his arm.

"Hello, boys," Hawkeye gave them a smile, "and everyone else. Where are Brookes, Breda and Falman?" She asked, immediately noticing the three men were missing.

"Brookes went back to the house to help his team look for evidence and Breda and Falman volunteered to go tell Mustang what happened," Ed told her. "How are you, Captain?" Ed asked, wincing as he sat up better to look at her properly. She had both feet wrapped up in thick layers of padding and her left arm in a cast from the elbow down. She wore hospital garb, the same as Al and Ed, but Ed didn't think he could see any bandages underneath them.

"I'm well. The doctors have said I need to stay here for three or four days until I'm able to put pressure on my feet again and I'll be in the cast for six weeks," Hawkeye told them. "Other than some cuts and bruises, I'm fine," she promised. Ed was a little shocked she'd actually told them her injuries. "What about the two of you?" she asked. Ed gestured for Al to go first.

"I'm fine, Captain. I have a cut on my head that needed stitches and my knee is still a bit sore but my injuries were minor," he told her. "I'm really sorry I couldn't stop her from taking you," Al told her, keeping his eyes focused on his lap as he worried the edge of his blanket.

"Alphonse, you have nothing to be sorry for. I should be apologising for not being able to assist you in that fight," Hawkeye told him, laying a gentle hand on his knee.

"You don't need to apologise to me, Captain," Al said, looking up in shock.

"Nor you to me," Hawkeye assured him, petting his knee once before removing her hand once he gave her a smile and turned to the older Elric. "How about you, Edward?"

"Well, I got shot and three of my cuts were bad enough to need stitches. Also, I broke three of my ribs and hit my head at some stage during the fight," Ed told her with a shrug that pulled at more than one of his injuries. "Just a typical day, really," he joked lightly.

"What about your neck?" Hawkeye asked, eyeing the pristine bandages wrapped snuggly around it.

"Yeah, Doc Evans decided against stitches since I have a tendency to bust mine and he didn't want to risk that with my neck. It wasn't bad enough to absolutely require stitches but he wants me to come back a week after I'm discharged so he can check on it," Ed told her, unable to stop himself from glimpsing the faint scar on Hawkeye's own neck, a reminder of what happened to her on Promised Day. "I'll be in a sling for a month though so Evans has said I'm banned from missions for the duration," Ed told her, changing the subject a little.

"Elysia will be delighted to have someone to fuss over for so long," Hawkeye said with a small grin.

"She'll be worse than Al," Ed groaned before laughing at his brother's offended "Hey!"

"Behave, boys," JJ said with an amused smile of her own. "It's good to have you back, Captain Hawkeye," JJ smiled warmly at her.

"Thank you," Hawkeye returned the smile. "Would you mind catching me up on what happened after Belmont attacked the two of us? I'd like to know how you figured out her identity so quickly," Hawkeye said, sitting forward slightly in her wheelchair as she gave them her undivided attention.

A/N- Chapter 22 is up and everything for you! As much fun as I had writing this chapter, I struggled immensely as fight scenes still don't come easily for me but thankfully, I had my awesome beta, PhoenixQueen, there to help me with it and turn this chapter into the masterpiece it is. I hope everyone thoroughly enjoyed this chapter and I would absolutely love it if all of you reading, following or favouriting this story could pretty please leave me a review. As much as I love the three or so people who have been regularly reviewing this story (and you guys are the best!) I would love to hear from everyone so please, just leave a review, even if it's only a couple of lines :) see you next week!


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

As Doctor Evans had promised, by midday Edward was allowed to leave the hospital on the condition that he take it easy on his leg and came back in a week so that Doctor Evans could check on the cut on his neck. When Alphonse asked if he could leave too, Evans considered it for a minute before deciding that if he was still healing nicely after another twenty-four hours, he could be discharged as well and come back for a check-up when Edward came back in a week. Al looked a little sad that he couldn't leave with his brother but accepted the doctor's decision with far more grace than Ed would've done in his position.

Ed stopped by Hawkeye's room to see how she was doing and what the doctors had said about her recovery time now that it had been over twelve hours since they'd been admitted. The swelling in her feet had gone down by a massive amount, leading the doctors to believe that her injury had looked worse than it was because she'd been putting weight on them before getting them looked at. Now they were reconsidering the length of time she'd need to stay in the hospital. After getting X-rayed, they were certain none of the bones in her feet were broken, but they still weren't willing to let her put any weight on them for the next twenty-four hours. After that, there was a chance she would be released, but Edward saw the familiar steely glint in her eyes when she told him that. Edward was certain that she would be in the office by lunchtime tomorrow.

As Emma steered his wheelchair out of Hawkeye's room, Edward glanced over his shoulder at her. "So what room is Belmont in?" he asked curiously.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked suspiciously.

"I don't want to see her," Ed assured her. "I do want to see Lieutenant Ross and Master Sergeant Brosh, though. They've been helping us out all week and I know they'll want to know how Al and I are doing."

Emma eyed him for a moment, as if looking for a lie, but finally nodded. "Fine. I'll take you to see them, but you're not to disturb Major Belmont. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," Ed agreed immediately. With that, Emma took him to the other side of the hospital, where there was a secure wing for injured criminals who needed more care than could be provided in the infirmary at Central Prison.

"Edward!" Ross exclaimed once she spotted him. Brosh was nowhere to be seen so Ed assumed he was standing guard inside the room, since military protocol dictated that all prisoners have a guard watching them at all times unless securely locked in a cell. Ed sincerely hoped they were keeping Belmont sedated so Brosh didn't have to suffer through any of her rants or pleads to let her go because she was only doing what was right. "Oh, Ed, are you alright?" Ross asked as she took in his rather beaten-up appearance.

"I'm fine, Lieutenant. Just stuck in a sling and banned from going on missions for a month until my arm heals. How are you and Brosh holding up?" he asked, casting a significant glance to the closed door.

"Honestly, Edward, before I had met her, I would have sworn that there wasn't anyone who is as much a handful to guard as you and your brother," Maria chided teasingly, "but then I met Major Belmont. For the moment, however, we're good. They've been keeping Major Belmont sedated so she can't injure herself further by trying to escape. Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes has promised to have us replaced with a new shift by the end of today."

"Good. I'm sure Major Armstrong will be looking forward to have you guys back," Ed told her and she grinned at him.

"He came by to say hello to us this morning when he called in to see his sister this morning. He said he would be seeing you after he'd finished talking to her. Did he not come by?" she asked when Ed looked surprised at the revelation.

"No, not that I know of," Ed told her. His body had taken the opportunity Doctor Evans had given him to catch up on sleep once everyone was ordered to leave his and Al's room when the doctor had checked up on them so he hadn't woken up until late in the morning. Even so, Major Armstrong didn't exactly inspire restful sleep, and he had no doubt that Al would have woken him up if the Major had visited them.

"We asked the Major if he wouldn't mind paying you a visit later so you could rest," Emma told him, a little sheepishly. "We know what the Major is like when he's trying to encourage healing," she told them.

"Wow, you guys take patient care to the next level," Ed said before giving her a wide grin. "Thanks! I'm sure Major Armstrong will hunt me down on the base later but at least I'll be able to put a desk or something between us." Ed laughed and Ross and Emma both joined in with the joke.

"Did the doctor give you any indication if Al can be released soon?" Ross asked and Ed nodded.

"Doc Evans said that if he and Captain Hawkeye both look like they're doing well, they can be released in a day's time," Ed told her.

"I'm sure Al will be excited about that. He's been getting a little fidgety. He finished all the books you brought him, even though he read them as slowly as he possibly could," she told him.

"That's just an Elric for you. We don't like being stuck in one place for too long." Ed laughed again when Ross nodded in complete agreement. "Anyway, I need to get going. I promised Führer Grumman that I'd report to his office once I was discharged and I don't want Hawkeye to come back to the office and see that there's unfinished paperwork," Ed said.

"I'm sure Captain Hawkeye will appreciate that," Ross said. "Brosh and I will stop and say goodbye to Alphonse once our replacements arrive," Maria told him and Ed nodded.

"He'll be happy to see you," Ed gave her a smile. "Thanks for all your help the last few days and thanks for staying here with Al. I really appreciated it all," he said and Ross gave his flesh shoulder a careful squeeze.

"It was my pleasure, Ed. It was very interesting working with you and the others," Ross told him.

"Well, at least you weren't bored while escorting everyone everywhere," Ed grinned.

"It's _never_ boring when you're involved, Edward. I feel like you take it as a personal challenge to get involved in cases that never end up being straight-forward," Ross raised a brow as Ed gave her a mock-affronted look before the expression dissolved into sheepish guilt.

"You're not wrong, but I swear I don't do it on purpose," Ed stated before he nodded to Emma. "I'll see you later, Lieutenant."

"Have a good day, Edward. Don't hurt yourself further doing something stupid," Ross gave him a flat look when he gave her a 'who, me?' look.

"Have a good day, Lieutenant." Emma nodded to Ross as she pushed Edward's chair away from the room.

"You too, Emma," Ross said warmly.

"Tell Brosh that I owe him one for helping us out," Ed called back as Emma headed down the hallway. Ross nodded and Edward gave her one last smile of thanks before Emma turned the corner, headed for the front doors of the hospital.

* * *

"Hey, Havoc, are you here to see Al?" Ed asked when he spotted the blond lieutenant just after Emma left him to find his own way back into the office. After all, her job really wasn't escorting Ed around the hospital.

"Nah, I just finished saying hello to him. I came here to pick you up. Figured you'd be calling for a car to take you to the office so thought I'd save you the phone call," Havoc told him.

"Yeah, Doc Evans would probably skin me if I tried walking to the office from here." Ed grinned as he followed Havoc outside to the waiting car. He had a slight limp as he adjusted to the pull of the stitches holding the gash on his cut together.

"I'm sure your brother wouldn't just leave the lecture to Elysia if that happened," Havoc laughed. "How are you feeling this morning anyways, chief?" He asked as he held the passenger-side door open for Ed.

"Like I went a couple of rounds with Teacher and lost," Ed told him and Havoc winced in sympathy. Izumi Curtis was not a woman he wanted to find himself fighting against.

"Damn, chief. You sure you should be out of hospital?" He asked once he was behind the steering wheel.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I can at least get the paperwork caught up for the captain and it's not like I can take on any cases myself since I'm technically still Mustang's stand-in, so there's no reason to keep me in the hospital," Ed pointed out.

"Fair point," Havoc conceded. "There's not much in the way of paperwork. The Führer's still delegating most of it to other departments where he can," Havoc told him.

"I wondered if he was, since we saved Captain Hawkeye. I've got to go report to him when we get to the base." Ed squirmed in his seat until he was comfortable while Havoc weaved the car through the mid-day traffic.

"You spoke to him already?" Havoc asked and Ed frowned for a moment before realising he must've forgotten to actually tell them about the fact that he'd called Grumman before heading to his and Al's hospital room the previous night.

"Oh, yeah. I called him once Emma finished patching me up so I could tell him we got Hawkeye back and arrested Belmont. He said he'd be calling the hospital to get reports on all our injuries but he still wanted me to come to his office once I was released to give him a verbal report on the arrest," Ed told Havoc.

"Have you even eaten or had coffee at least yet?" Havoc asked and Ed snorted.

"I had what the hospital considered food and I'd honestly drink the mess hall coffee before I drank the hospital coffee. That stuff is for when you have absolutely no choice but you need caffeine," Ed told him with a laugh.

"Very true. We'll stop somewhere first so you don't accidentally snap at the Führer because you're not caffeinated yet," Havoc said and Ed grinned at him.

"This is why you're one of my favourites," Ed told him as seriously as he could manage while he was trying to contain his laughter. He lost the battle, though, when Havoc let out a bark of laughter of his own.

"I'll have to let the others know you're so easy to win over," Havoc teased once they got their laughter under control.

"You can only win me over with the really good coffee," Ed told him. Havoc nodded seriously.

"I'll make sure the others know that as well for whenever we need to get on your good side," Havoc said, "or need to ask you a favour," he smirked as Ed rolled his eyes.

"Favours must be purchased with good food _and_ good coffee," Ed grinned at him. "Or brand new alchemy texts. Equivalent exchange and all that."

"Duly noted," Havoc grinned back.

* * *

Havoc decided while Ed was eating proper food that he would be accompanying Ed up to the Führer's office. Ed had pointed out that with Belmont caught and in hospital with guards, they didn't need to use the buddy-system anymore. Havoc had merely pointed out the truth about Ed's uncanny ability to find trouble _anywhere_ and pointed out that he needed someone backing him up just in case. Ed had glared at him but didn't argue any further.

So once Havoc had returned the car to the military car park and Ed had gathered up his rubbish and binned it, they made their way to the Grumman's office. Quite a few soldiers were out and about which wasn't really a surprise since it was early afternoon, but several of them did double-takes at Ed's appearance. The others looked far too used to seeing an injured Edward walking through the base to look surprised, though they did offer him wishes for a speedy recovery.

They finally made it to Grumman's office and went to open the door only to have it open and have Colonel Rubio walk out of it, nearly running into them both. Ed was a little surprised when Havoc had grabbed him by his automail shoulder and pulled him backwards slightly while stepping partially in front of him, as though protecting him from danger.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric, Lieutenant Havoc, my apologies. I didn't think anyone would be at the door," Rubio said as he straightened himself from the stumble backwards he'd taken in an effort to stop himself from running into them.

"Colonel Rubio," Havoc said as he snapped a salute, which prompted Ed into remembering that he should probably do the same since Rubio was a superior officer.

"What brings you by the Führer's office, if you don't mind me asking, Lieutenant Colonel?" Rubio asked once he'd released Ed and Havoc from their salutes.

"Führer Grumman asked me to pay him a visit once the hospital was willing to release me from their clutches," Ed told him. Rubio looked a little unsure of how to respond to the way he'd worded that.

"The hospital wasn't keeping you prisoner, chief," Havoc shook his head in amusement. "It's their job to make sure you aren't going to keel over once you leave, so they have to ask you to stay for as long as it takes," Havoc chided him.

"That's just what they _want_ you to think, Havoc," Ed told him conspiratorially before remembering Rubio was still standing there. "Oh yeah," Ed said as he blinked at him. "Anyway, Fuhrer Grumman wanted me to give him a report of last night's arrest and fight," Ed told him and Rubio's jaw tightened a little.

"Actually, that was why I was in there as well," Rubio told them. Ed and Havoc shared a startled look at the fact that a superior officer was about to offer up this information without any prompting on their behalf. "Führer Grumman was just informing me of the charges former Major Belmont would be facing and to inform me that at some time today, Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes or some of his team would be paying my office a visit to go through Belmont's desk. He also wished to warn me not to be surprised if more charges were laid against her in the near future," he told them. Ed really wasn't sure what to say in response to that. Somehow he figured that apologising that one of his subordinates turned out to be a psychopath probably wasn't the best way to go about it. Thankfully, he was saved from having to make any sort of response when Rubio shook himself slightly. "Anyway, I need to get back to work and I don't wish to hold you up any longer. Have a good day, gentlemen, and I hope you heal quickly, Lieutenant-Colonel Elric," Rubio said, nodding to Ed before moving around them before either man could say or do anything in response.

"He was supposed to wait for us to reply and salute again, right? I haven't been imagining that as part of military protocol for the last 5 years, have I?" Ed asked as they watched Rubio's retreating form walk away from them.

"Let's go talk with Führer Grumman," Havoc said as he shook his head in amusement as Ed's questions.

"Good afternoon, Miss Samantha," Ed greeted as they walked through the doors and he spotted the woman sitting behind her desk. The secretary looked up immediately at the sound of his voice.

"Edward! I didn't think you would be released today from what the hospital told us about your injuries," Samantha said as she took in the sight of him as he and Havoc approached her desk. "How are you?" she asked as she stood to move around the desk.

"I'm fine. None of my injuries were anything overly major." Havoc snorted at that and Ed glared at him before turning back to Samantha with a smile. "They weren't major enough to require me staying at the hospital any longer than I had," he amended slightly. "I was asked to speak to Führer Grumman after I'd been released. Is he able to talk now?" Ed asked, figuring the standing orders that allowed him and Brookes to barge in whenever they needed to were probably null and void by now.

"Yes, he's got some time now. His meeting with Colonel Rubio went a little faster than he expected," Samantha told him as she walked over to the massive doors that led to Grumman's inner office and knocked.

"Enter," Grumman's muffled voice said from the other side of the door and Samantha pushed the doors open. "Lieutenant Colonel Elric, Lieutenant Havoc, it's good to see you," Grumman greeted once he spotted them.

"You too, Führer Grumman," Havoc said as he and Ed saluted. Grumman waved them out of it before dismissing Samantha with a nod of thanks.

"How are you, Edward?" Grumman asked as he took in the bandaged injuries he could see on him. He did have the reports from the hospital pertaining to the injuries, sustained by Edward, Riza and Belmont, but it still saddened him to see the proof of those injuries in person.

"I'll live," Ed told him with a grin. "Doc said I've been grounded for a month though, at the very least, to give my arm a chance to heal."

"You two can take a seat," Grumman said, realising he'd neglected to offer. Both of them sat down with a thankful murmur, "and I'm glad to hear that you're alright, Edward," Grumman said with a kind and honest smile.

"Thank you, Sir," Ed said, a little surprised to hear Grumman admit that.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes paid me a visit this morning to arrange some guards for former Major Belmont to reprieve the two stationed to her now and informed me that Belmont kept incredibly detailed notes on her whole operation. He's assigned two of his team to the sole task of going through them while he and the others continue gathering any evidence they uncover," Grumman told him and Ed felt a wave of relief wash through him. At least they'll have physical proof that Mustang didn't do anything and wouldn't have to rely on getting Belmont's confession.

"That's awesome. When is Mustang going to be released?" Ed asked and felt uneasy when Grumman gave a sympathetic wince.

"Unfortunately, they haven't uncovered anything in what they've read of the plans yet to say that Belmont was the one to frame Mustang. Until they do, technically they have no proof and since Mustang can't be released until we have tangible evidence saying he absolutely had nothing to do with the crimes he was charged with, I can't authorise his release. Even then, once I've gotten the proof we need, I still need to draw up release papers and submit them. Though I plan on expediting them, it's unlikely Mustang will be released until at least twenty-four hours have passed after I submit them," Grumman explained. "That is, of course, as long as I don't receive pushback from anyone," Grumman said, tone making it obvious who he was talking about.

"You could always order them to, like, South City or something for the week," Ed suggested and Grumman laughed.

"If only it were that simple," he chuckled before leaning back in his chair. "I'll need a written report from everyone on your team, yourself and Agent Hotchner – though his won't be added to the official files – but I would still appreciate a verbal report from yourself and Lieutenant Havoc, if you don't mind," Grumman said. Both Ed and Havoc nodded in agreement and at Ed's urging, Havoc went first.

He told Grumman about Ed's orders before everyone bar the BAU entered the house silently, using Ed's alchemy to bypass the lock. He explained how he waited for everyone to file downstairs until he was the last one left and how he'd shut the door carefully behind them so they would have that small security from Belmont while they were in the basement. He described how he and Ed got Hawkeye out of the chair Belmont had tied her to and how Ed suspected her arm was broken so Havoc splinted it. He mentioned Fuery's discovery that the exterior doors were chained and how Ed realised he'd have to deconstruct the doors since he couldn't physically touch the chains from where they were but in doing so, the sound of the explosion and the chains hitting the ground attracted Belmont's attention and suddenly Ed was telling them to get out.

He told Grumman about helping Hawkeye out – though not how he helped her out since he valued his kneecaps – and that Fuery followed them before hearing the sounds of gunfire. He talked about how Fuery kept guard while Havoc tended to Hawkeye's other injuries while the agents, Falman, Breda and Brookes tightened the perimeter on the house so everyone was in the backyard and able to get into the basement quickly if needed. He described seeing the flashes of alchemy and the shouts from Belmont as Ed faced her in combat before finally hearing the sound of a body hitting the ground and Ed's call for Brookes to get down in the basement to arrest her. Then he told Grumman about how they heard Brookes yell for Ed just after they heard another gunshot before seeing the two men emerge from the basement after there was a flash of fire.

At that point, Ed took over. He backtracked to describe what had happened in the basement after Fuery, Havoc and Hawkeye had left. He recounted every move he and Belmont had made and how he'd hit her mid-leap with a stone hand and thought she was unconscious when she hit the ground only to have her suddenly up and aiming a gun at Brookes. Ed told Grumman about how he used flame alchemy after he'd been shot to buy him and Brookes a few seconds to get out of the basement.

He watched for Grumman's reaction to the revelation that Mustang was teaching him flame alchemy. The old man didn't show any surprise so Ed figured he already knew but he also didn't show any anger or disapproval at Ed being taught, something that almost had Ed flushing as he realised it meant Grumman thought Ed could be trusted with it.

He then went on to describe how he heard Belmont running through the house to the back door to continue their fight so he ordered Brookes to get out the way. He went on to continue describing the fight in as much detail as he could remember before telling Grumman about how he saw that Hawkeye had a gun in her hand and manipulated Belmont into a position where Hawkeye would get a clear shot. He then explained how the shot itself didn't take Belmont down so he kicked the leg Hawkeye had shot her in our from underneath her and how that had finally brought Belmont down so he could alchemise some stone cuffs around her hands so he could remove the alchemic arrays she wore. He finished up by telling Grumman that Brookes came over and together they got her into the cuffs Brookes had brought for restraining an alchemist.

"Thank you for telling me," Grumman said once Ed had finished speaking. "I wish the mission had gone a bit smoother for you and resulted in fewer injuries all around but well done for completing it. I'm sure everyone is waiting for you, Edward, so I won't keep you any longer. I'll need your reports on what happened, like I said, and I would like them before the end of the business day tomorrow, if possible. I understand Riza might not be released for a couple of days so I'll have her write her report once she's been released and permitted to be back at work," Grumman told them.

"Of course, Führer Grumman. We'll make sure the others know when their report is needed," Havoc told him and Grumman dipped his head in thanks.

"In that case, you're dismissed. Make sure you look after yourself, Edward," Grumman said and Ed laughed.

"I don't think my brother will ever let me out of his sight again, Sir, and I doubt that between him and Miss Gracia, I'll be allowed to do much more than dress myself," he told him, voice filled with amusement. Grumman chuckled in agreement.

"I imagine you're correct but nonetheless," Grumman said and Ed nodded.

"I'll try and stay out of trouble," Ed promised. Both Grumman and Ed ignored Havoc's muttered 'good luck with that'. "See you later, Sir," Ed said. Grumman nodded away the salutes Ed and Havoc gave him before the two left the office with a quiet goodbye to Samantha, who was on the phone by the time they came out of the office and since they didn't want to disturb her, they made do with a simple wave that she returned with a smile.

* * *

Ed hadn't felt glad that Garcia hadn't been sent with the BAU agents the entire time they'd been in Amestris until this moment because he likely would've been smothered if a third person had joined Prentiss and JJ in the hug they wrapped him up in the moment they realised who had walked through the door.

"You lot will send me back to the hospital if you squeeze me too hard, just so you know," Ed gasped as the two women hugged him. His comment had them backing off immediately and looking over him with concern.

"Are you alright?" JJ asked.

"Should you even be out of hospital yet? You got shot!" Prentiss asked at the same time as JJ and Ed had to hold his automail hand up to get them to stop piling him with questions so he had the chance to answer them. Absolutely none of the others were any help and Ed glared at Morgan, who hadn't managed to stop his laughter in time.

"I'm fine and yes, the hospital let me out. The bullet wound was only a flesh wound anyways, remember?" Ed pointed out and both women looked only slightly mollified by his response.

"How's your neck?" JJ asked as she lightly touched the pristine bandages on the uninjured side of his neck. Ed grinned at her as he lightly grasped her hand and pulled it away from his neck. After what had happened with Haggar, he'd had a slight aversion to people touching his neck in anything other than a medical capacity, and even that took tremendous amounts of self-control for him to allow.

The first time he'd accidentally revealed that had been when Havoc had misjudged how far away from him Ed was when he threw his arm around the alchemist's shoulders only a week or so after the Voltron adventure and ended up with his hand resting on the side of Ed's neck instead. Havoc had been the only one in the room to notice how quickly Ed had moved out of his grip and spun to face him, hands half-raised in his fighting stance, but he must've told the others and Al because all of them had been exceptionally careful about pulling him into a side-hug for a couple of weeks.

"All good. I have to go back in a week so Doc Evans can check it but it's fine," Ed assured her, squeezing her hand gently before releasing it and moving towards his desk where there was a small pile of paperwork waiting for him.

"It's good to see you out of the hospital, Ed. How's your head?" Hotch asked him, having noticed that he didn't have any bandages around the top of his forehead, like he'd had the previous night.

"Yeah, it's just a bump," Ed shrugged his right shoulder nonchalantly, "and I'm pretty used to them so I know how to keep it clean and what to look for. Doc knows I'd take the bandages off the minute I'm out of hospital so he doesn't bother wrapping a head wound when I leave unless it's to cover stitches or something," Ed told him as he sat down. "Did anything happen while I was in the hospital?" Ed asked, twirling the pen he'd picked up in between his fingers as he leaned back in his chair.

"Not really. News about Belmont's arrest spread through the base almost as quickly as the news of Mustang's arrest," Falman told him. "No one seems really surprised that she was arrested and I haven't heard of anyone who's tried overly hard to suggest that she could be innocent. From what I have heard, everyone seems to be in agreement that she could have killed Chambers, kidnapped Hawkeye and hurt Al because she was a bit _too_ quiet and that unnerved a lot of people," Falman explained.

"Huh," was all Ed said in response to that. "Anything about the generals?" Ed asked, probably a little too eagerly for anyone to mistake it as a casual question though absolutely no one called him out on it.

"Grumman and Brookes have kept the fact that Belmont is under suspicion for the crimes Mustang is charged with under wraps right now so as far as the generals are concerned, Mustang is still going on trial tomorrow," Falman told him. "I managed to catch Brookes after he reported to Grumman this morning and he informed me that the generals won't know anything about Belmont being charged with those crimes until after the fact if he has anything to say about it. Brookes is confident that his team will have the evidence in time to exonerate Mustang," Falman reported and Ed grinned widely.

"Oh, I so hope they barge into Grumman's office while I'm in there. I don't think Grumman would mind me forgetting what manners are if that happens," Ed's grin turned slightly sharp at the thought before he jolted as he recalled something. "Oh, yeah. Speaking of Grumman, he wants a report from all of you," he gestured to the Amestrians, "and you," he pointed at Hotch, who looked a little surprised, "by the end of the workday tomorrow," Ed told them.

"Why does he want one from me? I didn't think he'd want written proof of us here," Hotch said and Ed shrugged.

"You lot are going to be in our reports and Grumman said yours wouldn't go into the official case file. He'll probably end up heavily censoring our reports as well, to protect the fact that it's apparently possible to travel inter-dimensionally between our worlds," Ed told him. "I think he just wants your report so he's got an account of what happened outside the house while we entered, in case someone tries to claim we entered illegally or something like that," Ed told him and Hotch nodded in acceptance.

"Alright, I'll write it up for him. He doesn't require one from the others?" Hotch asked and Ed shrugged his shoulder.

"He didn't say anything about them doing one up. Just mentioned you, since you're the team lead," Ed told him. "Probably wouldn't hurt to have them read over your report and sign it, just in case," Ed said when Morgan and Prentiss shared a smirk at the fact that only Hotch had to write a report up. "Maybe even have them write a page telling what they heard or saw before the fight moved out of the basement," Ed suggested innocently while Morgan and Prentiss gave him a betrayed look.

"Yes, that's probably a good idea," Hotch nodded in agreement, giving Ed a shadow of a wink as Morgan barely held back his groan before he turned to his team. "I'll need your written accounts of what happened from the time we arrived, to the time Brookes and Ed emerged from the basement by lunch tomorrow," Hotch ordered and everyone nodded, though Morgan and Prentiss didn't look very happy about it.

"Well, I'm going to get this paperwork done before Miss Riza is released from hospital," Ed announced, leaning forward in his chair once more. "Then I'm going to think of a way to get Mustang back for promoting me," Ed told them, looking so enthusiastic about that that nearly everyone was chuckling at his expression.

"Oh, speaking of Mustang, Ed," Breda said, snapping his fingers as he remembered something, "he said he wants to see you as soon as possible after your release from hospital," Breda told him and Ed sighed.

"I'll go see him after the paperwork is done," Ed said decisively. "You should get started on your reports or any paperwork that needs to be done," Ed suggested.

"That's a good idea. We don't need Captain Hawkeye shooting us within the first five minutes of her walking into the office," Havoc nodded wisely and the other Amestrians murmured in agreement before getting to work.

"I've been meaning to ask but you guys exaggerate when you say that Hawkeye will shoot you for not completing paperwork, right?" Morgan asked Ed as he sat next to the blond.

"Well, as far as I know, she's never actually hit any of them but she's certainly put some holes in the walls," Ed told him a little distractedly as he read over a report. "She's been close to shooting Mustang from what I've heard, though so I honestly wouldn't put it past her to put one in him," Ed told him as he signed the report he'd been reading before moving on to the next one.

"You people are insane," Morgan muttered as he grabbed what he needed to write his own report up. There were several snorts from the Amestrians but no one denied his comment.

* * *

"Done!" Ed exclaimed, making just about everyone in the office jump from the sudden noise but the blond didn't seem to notice as he happily stacked his paperwork one-handed. "Whose turn is it to get this stuff where it's supposed to be?" Ed asked, finally looking up at everyone.

"Mine," Falman told him, reaching out a hand to take the paperwork. Ed scooped it up and handed it to him with a smile that Falman returned as he plopped the paperwork onto his desk, away from his own.

"I'll go see Mustang now so he doesn't blow a fuse," Ed said as he stood up and stretched as best he could with a damaged arm, calf and busted ribs. At the same time, Fuery and Reid looked half-ready to get out of their chairs.

"Can Fuery and I come with you?" Reid asked, having noticed the bespectacled man's movements. Ed shrugged, seemingly uncaringly.

"Sure, why not?" Ed said, waving for them to follow him as he headed to the door. "We'll be back later," Ed said before he disappeared through the door, Reid and Fuery hot on his tail. The others didn't even get the chance to even say anything before the door was shut behind the three men.

Edward, Reid, and Fuery walked quickly through the corridors towards the exit that would lead to the building where the holding cells were located. The deeper they got into the building, the fewer people they encountered, until they finally reached a deserted stretch of hallway just a few turns away from the exit they were looking for. Edward suddenly stopped in his tracks, his face pinching in confusion as he cocked his head to the side. Fuery and Reid moved a few more steps before realising that the teen had stopped and they paused and looked back at him.

"Edward? Are you all right?" Fuery asked. Edward had a confused look on his face, like he was trying to figure something out.

After a moment, Edward shook his head and looked back at his friends. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thought I heard someone calling my name, but it was nothing."

Fuery and Reid looked around, but the hallway was just as deserted as it had been a few seconds ago, with the exception of the three of them. They exchanged looks but fell back into step with Edward as he caught up with them and moved past them in the direction of the cells again.

One hallway away from the exit, Edward suddenly gasped in pain and shock and nearly fell to his knees before Fuery managed to get underneath the teen's arm and brace him without hurting him any further. "Ed!" he and Reid called together.

Reid had barely been able to stop himself from grabbing Edward's injured arm and he realised he couldn't do anything without risking hurting his friend further, so all he could do was watch anxiously, trying to figure out what was wrong with Edward, whose golden eyes were screwed closed and his face contorted in pain.

Fuery helped Edward over towards the wall before lowering him to sit on the ground with his back against it, out of the way of anyone who might be walking by. Both he and Reid knelt down in front of him, as Edward pressed his automail palm into his temple in an effort to ease some sort of pain there as he brought his knees up to his chest.

"Would the lot of you just calm down and let me talk?" Edward finally snapped, growling in anger as he rubbed against his temple with more force. Reid looked completely confused by Edward's words, but Fuery relaxed slightly and sat back on his heels.

"What's happening to him?" Reid asked, looking at Fuery for answers.

"I think it has something to do with the Lions of Voltron," Fuery whispered, keeping his voice low even as he checked the hallway to make sure they were still alone. "Ed said he muted his connection with them – and they with him – while he was in Resembool. As far as I know, this is the first time they've ever muted the bond since it was formed."

"Are you ever going to let me explain what happened or are you lot going to keep trying to give me the worst migraine I've ever had?" Ed snapped, finally opening his eyes again. Reid noticed that the gold irises seemed glazed over and realised that it must mean that he was listening to something they couldn't hear. Fuery stood up and leaned against the wall next to Ed, keeping his eyes on the corridor. Reid decided to sit next to Ed and leaned his head against the wall as Ed fell silent, determined to wait until his friend was able to explain what was happening.

* * *

They'd been about two-thirds of the way to the holding cells when Ed felt what he could only describe as a tickle in his mind. It was like something foreign but familiar had pressed slightly against it but the feeling was so fleeting that he'd almost thought he'd imagined in it, and for a moment he thought he'd heard his name. Whatever it was had caused him to break his stride slightly and both Fuery and Reid had immediately asked if he was okay. He'd assured them that he was fine and they continued on their way but not even a minute later, Ed let out a pained, shocked noise as pain erupted in his mind, strong enough to cause him to nearly hit the ground.

"_EDWARD ELRIC, WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO YOURSELF NOW?!_" Five voices roared in his mind as one and Ed was barely aware of the fact that one of the two accompanying him had saved him from introducing his face to the ground and helped him sit down. He knew the two men would be worried and fussing but Ed could barely think straight against the pain that having his bond with the Lions reopened forcefully and having said Lions all lecturing him at the same time caused him. The Lions didn't even give him a chance to explain as they continued peppering him with questions (Green and Yellow) and scolding him (Black, Red, and Blue).

"Would the lot of you just calm down and let me talk?" Ed growled out, trying to ease the pain by rubbing his temple as hard as he could. His eyes were screwed shut but he could hear Reid and Fuery talking, though they sounded muffled, and they didn't sound worried so Ed assumed Fuery had some kind of idea of what was happening.

None of the Lions seemed to hear him and Ed realised he'd probably spoken out loud rather than through their bond and the lectures continued uninterrupted. Trying to follow five conversations at once was hard enough but trying to follow five in his own head was making him nauseous and irritable. He felt himself open his eyes and saw that both Fuery and Reid were kneeling in front of him.

"Are you going to let me explain what happened or are you lot going to keep trying to give me the worst migraine I've ever had?" Ed demanded loudly, making sure he sent the message through the bond this time, although he was sure he said it out loud as well. He watched as Fuery stood and moved next to him while Reid settled himself on the floor close by.

"_You better have an amazingly good explanation," _Red growled through the bond and Ed heaved a sigh of relief as the others backed off, taking the pain with them. He could feel their regret at causing him said pain but none of them apologised yet, waiting for him to speak first.

"_**Of course I do**_," Ed grumbled, this time just through the bond. "_**I'm going to give you the short version though since I'm actually on my way somewhere and you just made me scare the crap out of the two people with me**_**,**" Ed warned them. **"**_**I promise I'll explain everything in more detail later. Or you can just look at my memories, if you want**_**,**" Ed offered as an afterthought.

"_Tell us why you are so hurt and we'll discuss everything else later,"_ Black said, much more nicely than Red had sounded before. Ed felt Red's indignation at that thought and mentally stuck his tongue out at her, which she huffed at.

He summed up the days between his dulling their connection and the battle with Belmont by telling them they'd been joined by some of the agents he'd told the Lions about and were running their own investigation while trying to stop the generals from bullying Grumman into doing what they wanted. He then gave them the very condensed version of happened during the fight with Belmont and the hospital aftermath.

"_**Now I'm on my way to talk with Mustang and catch him up on everything,"**_ Ed finished his report. He could feel that they weren't anywhere near satisfied and he knew he would have to give them a much more detailed version of events later but that would wait until after he'd spoken to Mustang, at the very least. He couldn't stop his mental flinch at the idea of speaking with the older alchemist and he knew the Lions had noticed. _**"I will explain everything properly, I swear, but I do need to get to Mustang before the others realise how long I've been gone and get worried,"**_ Ed told them. He wouldn't put it passed those still in the office to organise a search party if Ed, Fuery and Reid took longer than they deemed acceptable. _**"Or you can take up my offer and rifle through my memories, if you want,"**_ Ed reminded them but he felt their unease at that. None of the Lions liked the idea of going through his memories unless necessary or if Ed accidentally exposed them to his memories during a nightmare or something similar.

"_I think we would prefer to talk with you about it. Our Paladins have sensed our worry for you through their bonds with us and are now demanding to know if you're alright. Lance is especially worried,"_ Blue told him and Ed groaned slightly. As nice as it was to know that the Paladins cared enough about him to pester their Lion for answers, he was embarrassed that they knew he'd been hurt again. _"We've promised them that they can be part of the conversation so you will need to tell us about what's happened since we've been gone so you can answer their questions,"_ Blue informed him and Ed sighed.

"_**Okay,"**_ Ed agreed, shifting where he sat slightly. _**"I'll try to talk to you tonight, assuming nothing happens between now and then that requires me to deal with it. We should have a few uninterrupted hours that way,"**_ Ed told them.

"_We'll hold you to that,"_ Red informed him with a threatening growl and Ed rolled his eyes at her faux brusqueness. After having them in his head for so long, he could tell when she was trying to mask her concern with attitude.

"_**I wouldn't expect anything less,"**_ Ed told her, a slight grin gracing his features as Red huffed a little and the Lions' presence faded slightly once more. Ed felt a momentary panic that they would be withdrawing almost completely, like they had before, but they didn't and Ed relaxed as he allowed himself a moment to get used to having them back in his head before he made himself open his eyes once more.

"Ed, are you alright?" Reid asked, having noticed immediately that Ed's eyes were no longer glazed over.

"Yeah," Ed told him, a little slowly before nodding once. "Yeah, I'm fine now," he said, sounding much surer of his answer.

"Was it the Lions?" Fuery asked as he moved to stand in front of Ed and offer him one of his hands. Ed accepted the help up with no complaint.

"Yeah. Turns out that reestablishing a mental connection with a bunch of over-protective and angry Lions is a painful experience," Ed grimaced slightly and felt the Lions regret at the pain their actions caused once more.

"They lectured you, huh?" Fuery asked as he offered Reid his hand, like he had Ed, and hauled the young BAU agent up to his feet.

"Remind me never to complain about Al's mother-henning ever again," Ed told him seriously and Fuery grinned in amusement.

"You sure you're alight? You didn't aggravate any of your injuries, did you?" Reid fussed and Ed shook his head.

"No, I'm as good as I was before I had five Lions back in my head," Ed reassured him with a smile that Reid returned, though his was a little unsure. "I'll explain as we walk. I think we've spent too much time on the ground and we did promise the others we wouldn't be too long," Ed pointed out and both of his companions nodded. Despite the pain he'd just experienced, Ed couldn't help but feel much happier than he had in the last few days. They'd caught the person truly responsible for the murders and assault, got Hawkeye back and now he had the Lions back in his mind. He felt their happiness at having him back and the mental hug they gave him as he walked with Fuery and Reid and Ed couldn't stop his smile.

* * *

The rest of their walk to the holding cells was completely uneventful. Ed could feel the Lions far more clearly than he could before Mustang's arrest but Blue assured him that in a day or two he would be used to their presence again and would barely notice them. The Lions were happy enough to look through Ed's eyes so they could see everything he saw. Thankfully for Ed, there was no obvious difference to him when this happened so no one was any the wiser about what was happening.

The sign in process went as smoothly as always. Fuery and Reid handed over their weapons and Ed went and stood with the guard who was waiting to escort them to Mustang's cell while the others signed the sign-in sheet. Once they were all done, the waiting guard led them down the familiar path to Mustang's cell and Ed felt a small surge of hope that this would be the last time he had to walk down this path. He could feel the Lions worry for Mustang and sent his surprise at that through their bond, having not expected them to be as concerned as they were, considering they'd barely warmed up to Mustang before the two alchemists left. None of the Lions decided to comment on his surprise though, which Ed felt was a little rude.

"Can't you ever just arrest someone without fighting them until either of you are a bloody pulp, Fullmetal?" Mustang's exasperated voice broke Ed out of his silent efforts to wheedle the Lions' reasons for not liking Mustang out of them and the blond started slightly when he realised they were in front of Mustang's cell.

"You're hilarious, Mustang," Ed said drily before turning to the guard. "Mind letting us in?" he asked and the guard didn't hesitate. "Thank you," Ed said once the three of them were in the cell with Mustang and the guard had locked the cell once more.

"Let me know when you wish to leave, Sir," the guard said before moving to the usual spot their escorts normally waited for them. Ed didn't even get the chance to try and convince him to drop the whole 'sir' thing.

"Seriously, are you alright? Breda and Falman only gave me the details they knew," Mustang asked, concerned etched in his face. Fuery and Reid shared a look of surprise; Fuery because he wasn't used to Mustang showing his worry for a subordinate so obviously and Reid because he hadn't expected Mustang to show his concern in front of them.

"I'm fine, Mustang," Ed said, flapping his automail hand dismissively. "Doc Evans has banned me from missions for a month, at least, though," Ed told him.

"Edward, I wasn't asking when you'd be mission ready and you know it," Mustang said, tone telling Ed he was truly worried about him and didn't appreciate Ed's attempt to deflect.

"Ugh, fine," Ed muttered as he shifted his weight fully onto his left leg, wincing minutely as he felt the pain that came from his calf muscle relaxing and making him all-too aware of the sewn-up gash on it. Mustang noticed and his worry increased. "I got a decent amount of bruises, a fairly deep cut on my calf and above my elbow, three broken ribs, a cut on my abdomen here," Ed indicated to where that particular wound was, "a gunshot wound through my bicep and a small cut to my neck," Ed finished telling him and Mustang looked a little stunned.

"You got shot?" He asked, sounding slightly perplexed and Ed nodded.

"Yeah, but it's just a flesh wound and I'm _fine_," Ed emphasized, both to Mustang and in his mind to the Lions, who had just started making their presences well-known once more as they started questioning him again. Mustang noticed his twitch of annoyance and his eyes narrowed since it didn't seem like it was aimed towards him.

"Are the Lions demanding answers again, Ed?" Fuery asked, having noticed Mustang's look at Ed's twitch and decided to help his commanding officer figure it out.

"The Lions?" Mustang repeated and Ed nodded, both to Fuery and Mustang.

"Yeah, the Lions decided to reestablish our connection, rather vocally and painfully, while we were on our way to see you," Ed told Mustang, who didn't look overly surprised they'd chosen now to re-open their bond with the blond.

"Did they tell you what they've been up to while you've been investigating?" Mustang asked, his curiosity getting the better of him and feeling mild disappointment when Ed shook his head.

"No, but I imagine I'll be getting the whole story either tonight or when I get a couple of hours to tell them about everything that's happened here," Ed told him and Mustang resigned himself to the fact that he'd just have to wait to hear what the Paladins and Lions had been up to in the past few days.

"Good. I'll admit I'm curious as to what they've been up to," Mustang said before getting the subject back to injuries. "How are Hawkeye and Alphonse?" he asked, taking strength in the fact that the question didn't make Ed look overly worried.

"Al will hopefully be released by tomorrow lunch-time, so long as Doc Evans is still happy with how he's healing by then," Ed smiled happily at the idea and the three others in the cell couldn't help but smile at his happiness and with their own relief. "However, they're not as certain about Captain Hawkeye," Ed told him. "She has a broken arm and several other minor injuries but the doctors are worried about her feet. They were badly bruised and really swollen when we got to the hospital but she told me this morning that the doctor who checked on her this morning now thinks the swelling was so severe because she was putting weight on them. They're certain none of the bones in them are broken but they want to keep her under observation. They've said that she'll be released, at the very earliest, after midday tomorrow depending on how much more the swelling and bruising goes down overnight," Ed told him and Mustang sighed in relief at the fact that his captain and friend wasn't as badly hurt as some of the worst-case scenarios his mind had come up with had him fearing.

"I'm glad they'll both be out soon," Mustang said honestly, "and I'm glad you'll be alright as well," he added just as sincerely. It was Ed's turn to look stunned by something Mustang said but the older alchemist changed the subject slightly before anyone could comment on what he'd said. "Breda and Falman told me who was behind everything but they couldn't tell me about what this meant for the charges against me. I don't suppose you know?" he asked Ed, who recovered from his slight shock relatively quickly to answer.

"I spoke with Grumman once I was released, actually. He told me that Brookes paid him a visit this morning, mainly to arrange some guards for Belmont while she's recovering in hospital from her own injuries," Ed told him. "Grumman said that Brookes and his team technically haven't found any evidence to support Belmont's claims that she was behind the murders and General Armstrong's assault but she kept meticulous records from the moment she started planning this whole thing so it shouldn't be too long before they find what Grumman needs to drop the charges against you and lay them against Belmont instead," he informed Mustang, "but he also warned that even though he'll expedite the paperwork to drop the charges the moment he has the cause to do so, it will still likely take twenty-four hours to go through the proper channels before you can be released," Ed warned Mustang, who nodded, completely unsurprised at the information.

"Hopefully it won't take his team too long to uncover the evidence we need," Mustang said, shoulders slumping a little in relief. "Do you know what Brookes' plan is?" Mustang asked Ed, who immediately gave Mustang an all-too familiar scowl.

"Do I look like a member of Brookes' team?" he asked, annoyance flashing in his golden eyes. "I imagine he'll have to interview Captain Hawkeye and Al, since they were attacked by Belmont, but other than that, I wouldn't know," Ed huffed at him. Mustang wanted to grin at the typical Ed attitude, having not truly realised how worried he was still that his ill-spoken words might have permanently destroyed his and Ed's relationship until just now.

"I figured you'd have asked him, since you are supposed to be working with him," Mustang drawled and Ed rolled his eyes.

"Yes, because I've had numerous opportunities to ask him in between his being at Belmont's house, doing his job – something that's a foreign concept to you, I know – and my hospitalisation," Ed sarcastically said, rolling his eyes. "In case you didn't realise, your team _can't_ go back to Belmont's house to investigate since it would be a massive conflict of interest and those dumbass generals would chuck a tantrum and claim we planted the evidence so Brookes and I haven't had the chance to chat about how he plans to investigate this," Ed snarked. Both Fuery and Reid were trying their hardest not to laugh at the exchange going on in front of them and Mustang was still doing his damnedest not to grin at the banter.

"Why don't you tell me about what happened? Did you use what I taught you against her?" Mustang asked, moving the conversation to another subject. Despite his worry about whether his and Ed's relationship would recover, he still didn't want to be drawn into an argument with the fiery blond.

"I told them about you teaching me flame alchemy, Mustang," Ed told him, having noticed his wording. "Had to since I'd be wearing your gloves," Ed pointed out when Mustang didn't look overly thrilled at the information. "Also, my bad about one of them," Ed told him and Mustang released a deep sigh through his nose.

"You destroyed one of them, didn't you?" Mustang asked and Ed shrugged innocently.

"I needed to use my blade to stop that psycho from stabbing me, so, yeah, one of your gloves was destroyed," Ed told him. "I wonder if I could manipulate one of the pairs I got from Lance into being a pair of ignition gloves. Although, the array would have to be moved so the blade didn't cut through it," Ed mused out loud and Mustang recognised the signs that they would soon lose him to his thoughts if they didn't pull him from them.

"Ed? You were telling Mustang about using flame alchemy?" Reid had obviously noticed the signs as well and Ed blinked at him.

"Oh, yeah," Ed said as he shook himself mentally. "She wasn't impressed that I knew flame alchemy," Ed told him, lips twisting into a wry smirk. "In fact, she was so pissed off about it; she didn't use the opportunity I accidentally gave her to escape. She decided to actually come back and restart our fight," Ed told Mustang, who looked a little surprised at that admission.

"Alright, I think you should start at the beginning," Mustang said, sitting on the edge of his cot. "How, exactly, did you give her an opportunity to escape and why?" Mustang asked and Ed scowled in annoyance once more.

"It's not like I did on purpose!" Ed pointed out once more, this time a little defensively. Mustang raised an eyebrow and the five Lions were now making their demands to know this story in more detail than they'd been given before known. "Fine," Ed sighed, both to Mustang and the Lions, "so, we uncovered Belmont's name in the captain's journals, Chambers' notebooks and the list of soldiers who were promoted to Major that was given to us by Grumman…"

* * *

"Alright, Captain Hawkeye, I'm all done with your check-up. How are you feeling?" Hawkeye's doctor asked as he stood beside her bedside.

"I feel fine, Doctor Allen," Hawkeye told him honestly. Her body ached from the bruises that littered it and her arm throbbed dully but she knew that was to be expected until she got used to the weight of the cast. Her feet ached fiercely but she could wriggle her toes with minimal pain and the remaining swelling had practically disappeared in between visits from Doctor Allen. She hadn't been asked to put weight on her feet yet but she knew she would be soon.

"I'm glad to hear that. Is your arm still causing you discomfort?" Allen asked and Hawkeye shook her head.

"No more than it has been," she told him and Allen seemed pleased with her answer.

"I'll order some painkillers for you but I imagine that discomfort will be gone shortly," Allen told her and Hawkeye simply nodded in answer. "There's a Lieutenant Colonel Brookes waiting to speak with you as well," Allen informed her. "Should I send him in?" he asked, completely willing to send him away if she asked him to.

"I'll speak with him. Thank you, Doctor Allen," Hawkeye said and Allen nodded before heading to the door and opening it.

"You have fifteen minutes to speak with her," Allen informed Brookes, who had apparently been standing near the door as he managed to be standing in front of the doctor within a few moments.

"Of course," Brookes nodded. "Thank you, Doctor," Brookes said as he stepped out of Hawkeye's sight in order to let Allen move through the doorway before he stepped through himself. "Good afternoon, Captain Hawkeye. I hope you're recovering well?" Brookes asked once the door was shut behind him.

"Good afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes. I'm recovering nicely, according to Doctor Allen," Hawkeye told him, dropping her hand from the salute that Brookes had waved her out of.

"I'm happy to hear that, Captain," he told her honestly, giving her a pleased smile before moving onto the reason they both knew he was here for. "I've already spoken with Alphonse about what happened before your encounter with Belmont and if you're agreeable to it, I'm willing to simply have you read over his statement once it's typed up and sign it if you agree with what he said," Brookes offered.

"I'm amenable to that," Hawkeye told him and Brookes nodded, making a notation in his notepad.

"I'll hopefully have it written up tomorrow," Brookes told her before gesturing to the vacant chair next to her bed. "May I sit?" he asked and Hawkeye nodded.

"Of course," she said agreeably and Brookes sat down gratefully.

"Thank you," he said before flipping a page of his notepad over so he now had a blank page to work with. "Would you please walk me through everything that happened from the moment Belmont made you walk out of that alleyway?" Brookes asked, pen at the ready.

"After I realised one of Belmont's reasons for framing General Mustang and attacking myself and Alphonse was to get the secrets of flame alchemy, I used checking on Alphonse as an excuse to give him the pair of General Mustang's gloves I had been habitually carrying so Belmont wouldn't find them," Hawkeye told him. Brookes didn't write all of that down, merely noting her reasoning for giving Alphonse the gloves as Alphonse had only been able to guess her reasons. "I used the time it took for Belmont to recover from Alphonse's attack to do this but she soon had her gun trained on me and ordered me to move away from Alphonse and out of the alley. She led me to her car, which she had parked some distance away from the alley and forced me inside before following me in and soon she was driving me towards the house where she planned to hold me. We drove for nearly thirty minutes before we pulled into the driveway of that house," Hawkeye told him, keeping her face neutral. "I'm fairly certain I saw one of Madame Christmas' girls, Annie, while we were driving," Hawkeye remembered and Brookes nodded.

"Alphonse told me that Edward had mentioned that Rossi and Falman had been sent to talk with her after Edward left the hospital once Alphonse had woken up," Brookes told Hawkeye when she looked mildly surprised at the fact that he wasn't surprised at the mention of Annie, nor did he ask who she was or how Hawkeye knew her.

"Ah," Hawkeye said simply before moving on. "After we arrived at the house, Belmont forced me out of the car at gunpoint and directed me through the front entrance and down to the basement where she'd already had a chair and rope set up to secure me with," Hawkeye told him. "She ordered me to take off my jacket so she could make certain I had no knives or other weapons that could help me escape or fight back before she forced me to sit on the chair and secured my wrists behind me. Once she'd tied my hands back, she used the rest of the ropes to ensure there was no way I could escape before she removed my socks and shoes. I believe she did that so I would be less inclined to leave the basement, if I did manage to escape the ropes," Hawkeye informed him.

"Did you know where you were being kept?" Brookes asked.

"I knew the area I was in but not the specific address. I couldn't have even told you the street I was being held on," Hawkeye told him and Brookes nodded before moving the conversation along.

"What did Belmont ask you?" Brookes questioned.

"She mainly wanted to know where my father's research was and refused to believe me when I told her that my father destroyed all of his notes before he passed away. She was adamant in her delusion that General Mustang or I were hiding the notes in a secure location, purposefully hiding them from her. She did not appreciate it when I pointed out that until that night, I had no clue who she was and that it was unlikely that the general knew of her existence either," Hawkeye said drily. "She was absolutely convinced that the notes still existed and that, as his daughter, I would know where my father hid them. When I continued telling her that the notes had been destroyed, she used more," Hawkeye paused for a moment, apparently contemplating her word choice, "_persuasive_ means to convince me to tell her a location." Brookes internally winced, knowing what he'd have to ask now.

"What means are you referring to, Captain Hawkeye?" He may need to know for the official record but Brookes had never liked asking people to be specific about how they were tortured or hurt.

"To start with, she used her fists, aiming mainly to strike my abdomen but striking my face as well," Hawkeye told him, "but after using that method a dozen or so times, she either realised it wasn't working or was worried I'd develop internal bleeding and would not be in a fit state to tell her what she wanted to hear if she continued using that technique so she moved onto her knives," Hawkeye informed him and Brookes couldn't stop his glance at the cuts that littered Hawkeye's arms and torso, though they were covered with bandages so he couldn't actually see them. "For every time I responded to her demands to know where my father's research was with the truth, she cut me. Thankfully, she only cut me enough to inflict pain so most of them will heal with no scars or complications," Hawkeye told him reassuringly when she noticed his aghast expression.

"She did this for roughly two hours before storming out of the basement when I never changed my answer. I don't know if she ever believed I was telling the truth about the fate of my father's research but she came back to the basement about three hours later, demanding I tell her the secrets of flame alchemy myself," Hawkeye informed him.

"But you're not an alchemist. Why would she expect your father to have told you the secrets?" Brookes asked, confused. His uncle had been an alchemist but two of his uncle's children hadn't been and neither of them would have been able to tell someone anything more than the basics of alchemy that every non-alchemist and alchemist already knew.

"I'm not certain but she might be under the impression that since my father invented flame alchemy and my boss uses it, I know the secrets to it," Hawkeye shrugged a little. "When I told her I didn't know anything, she started beating me again to try and get any information she thought I was hiding out of me. That's when she injured my feet. She used a bit of lightweight, hollow pipe to inflict those injuries," Hawkeye divulged and Brookes felt his stomach twist a little at the thought. "That interrogation lasted another two or so hours, I believe, before she left the basement again." Brookes wrote this information down as he allowed Hawkeye a moment to gather herself.

"When she came back down to the basement an hour or so later, she changed tactics," Hawkeye continued talking. "She tried to bargain with me in order to get me to tell her what she thought I knew. She promised to let me go, she promised to show me how flame alchemy should be used, she promised she would never use it to harm someone like General Mustang had," Hawkeye listed and Brookes furiously scribbled. "She even promised to confess to the crimes she framed General Mustang for, once she had the secrets to flame alchemy and was out of Amestris' jurisdiction so she couldn't be arrested for them," Hawkeye revealed and Brookes looked up in disbelief. "When she realised bargaining wasn't working either, she tried threatening me and my teammates if I didn't cooperate." For the first time since she started speaking of her ordeal, Hawkeye showed more than her usual passive mask. "She threatened to kidnap Edward and Alphonse and hurt them in front of me until I told her how to use flame alchemy. She fired shots at me, making sure each bullet barely missed me. She broke my arm when she twisted it up further behind my back. She then threatened to shoot a member of my team if I didn't give her the secrets and disappearing for a couple of hours, trying to make me believe she had left to make good on her threat," Hawkeye said, still angry at the lengths Belmont had gone to try and wheedle information Hawkeye didn't have out of her.

"If I may ask, why didn't you believe she had done so?" Brookes questioned and Hawkeye scoffed.

"I heard her close the basement and front doors but I never heard her walking towards her car nor her car actually start and leave the driveway so I knew she'd either pretended or had left on foot and she wasn't gone long enough for me to believe she'd been on foot," Hawkeye said and Brookes nodded, allowing her to continue. "When she figured out that I hadn't believed her, she tried more threats but she soon concluded that it wasn't going to work so she gagged me before leaving again. This time, though, she didn't come back down to the basement for hours," Hawkeye said.

"Roughly how long would you say?" Brookes asked and Hawkeye thought for a moment.

"I would say at least eight hours," Hawkeye told him. "She left me in the basement for those eight hours or so but she never left the house. I could hear her walking around upstairs and even her muttering when she stood on the other side of the basement door. I think her goal was to try and use my isolation against me, to try and use the silence and the inability to correctly guess how much time had passed to try and unbalance me because after the eight or so hours of her not coming into the basement, when she next appeared and removed the gag, she tried to tell me that it had been well over two days since I'd been taken and that the team was no closer to identifying her," Hawkeye said. "I honestly might have believed her except sunlight had been shining through the gap in the exterior basement doors that we left the room through and I knew it had only been one day since I'd been bound in the basement." Brookes had to commend her for being so clear-thinking despite everything Belmont had put her through.

"What happened after that?" Brookes asked and Hawkeye sighed a little.

"She became frustrated again and gave me a black eye before leaving once more," Hawkeye said, using her right arm to gesture to her face. "I was left alone for a couple of hours before she came back down to the basement to inform me that if I didn't tell her what she wanted by morning, she would be raiding my apartment and wouldn't hesitate to kill the woman staying there. I believe she was talking about my best friend, Rebecca, but I didn't get the chance to ask because she gagged me again so I wouldn't be able to make any noises while she was upstairs," Hawkeye told him and Brookes wrote that down before looking up at her once more.

"What happened after that?" Brookes prodded gently.

"After other two or so hours, the door opened again but this time Edward, my team and you were the ones to come through the door," Hawkeye told him and Brookes nodded, made a note and relaxed a little.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about what she said? Anything she said about any crimes she claimed to have committed?" Brookes asked and Hawkeye cast her mind back.

"She told me about how she was so worried for several days after she killed Chambers because she thought she had ruined her whole plan before it could be put into effect. She claimed that Chambers wasn't part of the plan; that she had only killed him because she was so angry at General Mustang being promoted when he didn't deserve it that she lashed out at the first person she disliked that she came across," Hawkeye divulged and Brookes started scribbling madly.

"Belmont said she used the bottle of accelerant she had decided to start carrying around so it wouldn't look unusual for her to be carrying a water bottle when she decided to start killing her chosen victims but that Chambers had struggled and managed to damage her uniform by ripping off a button before she could knock him out with a bit of pipe that had been laying on the ground. She'd kept that weapon to use on her chosen victims because she hadn't taken into consideration that they likely fight back," Hawkeye recalled, "and it was well known that Mustang doesn't use knives, so she couldn't use her preferred close-combat weapon. Unfortunately, she only told me about things we already knew regarding the other crimes though she did reveal how easy it was to trick Bryce into the alley with promises of sex and that she had to change her method of luring victims into the alley for Henley completely," Hawkeye told Brookes, who looked happy about that information.

"That's really helpful, Captain Hawkeye. None of the information you just gave me has been made public knowledge so that will help us prove it was truly her behind the murders and assault," Brookes said happily. "Of course, we can't use this information by itself so we still have to wait for my team to uncover evidence in the house – which they're close to doing so don't worry – before I can present it to Führer Grumman so Generals Widdon and Combes can't claim that you made the information up in an effort to free General Mustang," Brookes told her and Hawkeye nodded her understanding. "Is there anything else you can remember that would help further?" Brookes asked.

"No, that is everything I can recall that would be helpful," Hawkeye told him and Brookes looked like he'd expected that answer.

"In that case, I should be heading back to my team and assisting them with sorting through everything," Brookes said as he stood up from the chair he was sitting in and putting his notepad away. "Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Captain Hawkeye, and I wish you a speedy recovery," Brookes smiled as he stepped around the chair.

"You're welcome, Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes," Hawkeye said. "Good luck with your investigation, Sir," Hawkeye said, offering him a salute that Brookes waved her out of as quickly as he'd done so before.

"Thank you, Captain Hawkeye," Brookes said, dipping his head before leaving the hospital room, closing the door softly behind him and leaving Hawkeye to her own devices once more. Brookes nodded to the doctor who had allowed him into Hawkeye's hospital room before making his way towards the front entrance of the hospital. He was eager to get back to his team as they had been reading the entries in Belmont's notebooks that were dated mere days before Captain Bryce was discovered murdered when he left to interview Hawkeye and Alphonse.

A/N- Here's chapter 23 for all of you! Many, many thanks to PhoenixQueen who did an awesome betaing this chapter for me! Many thanks to everyone who left me a review last chapter as well. I really do appreciate every single comment this story gets so please keep letting me know what you guys thought to every chapter :) see you next week!


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

"How are you coming with your reports?" Edward asked, stretching as much as he could in his chair. It was about mid-morning, and he'd been sitting since early that morning. He hadn't slept much the night before, having decided not to go back to the hospital or go alone to Gracia's apartment after the others all called it a night. Instead, he'd moved into Mustang's inner office and sprawled out on one of the couches there, planning to sleep. However, he'd ended up talking into the wee hours of the morning with the Lions and their Paladins.

All of the Paladins took it in turn to tell stories about what they'd been up to for the near week they'd been out of contact, through the Lions. The primary storytellers had been Lance (via Blue), and of course Pidge and Hunk (via Green and Yellow). Shiro (via Black) and Keith (via Red) hadn't had as much to say, although they had shared some stories of their own in the few moments when they'd been able to get a word in past the Garrison Trio.

In return, Edward had given the Lions and the Paladins a more detailed version of the events that had happened since he'd cut contact with them. Of course, they'd already known everything up to the point where Ed had taken Gracia and Elysia to Resembool, but he'd filled them in on the rest of the story. As he'd expected, they'd all been angry at the fact that the Amestrian military still had generals as obviously corrupt as Widdon and Combes. The generals attempts to use their position to have Mustang arrested, put on trial and killed had made them angry, but the fact that the generals had also been unwilling to look at anyone besides Mustang as a suspect and were willing to let the real murderer go free just to get rid of him enraged them.

Ed made a point to tell them about all the times he'd snarked at the generals, and when Blue reported that his stories had Lance, Hunk, and Pidge rolling on the floor with laughter, Ed could almost swear that he was hearing their laughter and felt a grin of his own on his face.

Shiro had – through Black – told Ed how proud he was of the teen for not giving up, despite his doubts at the start and Ed felt himself flush, even as he tried to deny it. The flush darkened spectacularly when the rest of the Lions each passed on their own Paladin's praise and added their own to it. Ed knew the Lions were telling the Paladins what his reaction was but he was just glad they were the only witnesses to his dark red cheeks. He knew Morgan and Havoc, at the very least, would tease him mercilessly if they knew about this.

By the time they'd caught up completely and spent a couple extra hours just talking before Shiro ordered the Paladins to bed so they could get some rest – banning Ed at the same time from trying to use the individual Lions' connection with their Paladin to continue any kind of conversation – and tried to encourage Ed to get some sleep as well before turning in himself, Ed was no longer tired. Since he couldn't get to sleep, Ed figured the best way to waste the next few hours before the others were likely to report for duty would be to get his report done and ready for Führer Grumman.

Despite what Mustang liked to tell everyone else, Ed knew how to write a report properly and turn it in on time. He just enjoyed fucking with Mustang too much to do it for him. But this did mean he finished his final report for the Führer an hour or so before the BAU or his team were due to arrive in the office so he retreated back to the inner office and had a catnap until he was awoken by the outer office door being opened.

He left the inner office to find Falman settling at his desk. Falman was always the second to arrive, since Hawkeye was always the first. If the older man was surprised to see Ed there, he didn't show it; instead he just offered a 'good morning' that Ed returned and started organising his workspace for the day. Fifteen minutes later, the soldier assigned to bring them their paperwork for the day showed up and Falman sorted it out into piles for everyone, including Ed, and placing it on their desks.

Thanks to the help Hawkeye had given him every morning since Mustang was arrested – with the obvious exceptions being the mornings she was either being held by Belmont or in hospital – Ed was able to get most of his paperwork done without many problems. Much to his relief, Falman proved to be equally as good with paperwork as Hawkeye when it came to a couple of files Ed didn't know anything about. While Ed and Falman were working on their paperwork, the others trickled into the office, with Fuery and the BAU being the last to arrive and started on their own paperwork.

Hotch had to write his main report while the other BAU agents only needed to turn in a summary of what they heard and saw from the moment Ed gave them orders until the moment they all converged on the basement door so it didn't take the five of them long to complete at all. Ed had asked Mustang's team to work on their reports first, unless there was extremely important paperwork in their piles to be completed, so that he would be able to take them up to Grumman's office as soon as he possibly could.

"Nearly done, chief," Havoc told him cheerfully. Fuery, Breda, Falman and Hotch made similar statements while the other BAU agents told him they were finished and just waiting on Hotch's report so they could read it over and sign it.

"All right, what do you lot want for breakfast? I'll go grab some food and coffee while you keep writing," Ed said, getting to his feet and stretching once more, wincing as he stretched a little too much and felt his broken ribs pull painfully as well as the stitches on his abdomen.

"You're the best, chief," Havoc told him seriously and Ed rolled his eyes at him, though the effect of the eye roll was lost with the amused grin on his face.

"I'm aware. Now, give me food orders," Ed demanded. Once he had them, he turned to the BAU agents who were done with their reports. "Who wants to come with and carry stuff back?" Ed asked and Morgan, Rossi and Prentiss immediately stood up. "Awesome. We'll be back in like an hour or so," Ed told the others, who nodded in acknowledgment before getting back to their paperwork. The four of them left the office, with Ed leading them back towards the main gate so he could head to the restaurant that everyone had agreed on.

"Did you sleep at all last night, Ed?" Rossi asked once they were through the main gates, Ed nodding to the guards stationed there.

"Uh, I think I got like an hour, maybe?" Ed told him with a shrug. "I got plenty of sleep in the hospital so it's fine," Ed assured him quickly before he could raise a protest, since it certainly looked like the older man might very well do that. The Lions weren't impressed with his lack of sleep but their efforts to get him to sleep rather than do his report had been in vain so they didn't say anything, though Ed could still feel their annoyance at having been ignored.

"As long as you get some sleep tonight," Rossi said, worry still in his voice.

"I'm sure Alphonse will make me go back to Miss Gracia's apartment to have a shower and sleep in an actual bed once he's released from the hospital," Ed assured him with a small laugh. He felt a prod from several of the Lions. "The Lions will also be trying to force me to sleep," Ed tacked on, "even though they're the ones who kept me up all night last night."

"At least some of you have some common sense," Rossi muttered, loud enough for Ed to catch it and cause Morgan and Prentiss to laugh at the blonde's indignant protest before the two younger agents started teasing the young alchemist good-naturedly and soon enough, the three of them were bantering with a very amused Rossi as a silent witness.

* * *

"Get your food before I eat it all," Ed said as he dumped the bag of breakfast food on the desk once he, Rossi, Prentiss and Morgan walked through the door.

Morgan had been delegated to carrying the coffee, which was a much more delicate process since he wasn't sure he ever wanted to know what Edward or the other Amestrians were like without some form of caffeine in their system. As had happened every time someone deposited coffee onto the desk, it was claimed within moments. Morgan grabbed his food and his coffee before sitting back at his spot, Prentiss following suit while Rossi handed over JJ and Reid's coffee and food to them since they were in the middle of doing something.

"Hey, boy wonder, what are you and JJ up to over there?" Morgan asked once the two of them had accepted the food and caffeine from Rossi.

"Oh, we decided that since we've finished our reports and don't really have anything else to do, that we'd sort the case files out for Ed and the team," Reid told him, getting Ed's attention immediately.

"You guys don't have to do that, you know? We can sort it out ourselves later," Ed said, frowning as though he was concerned that they didn't know that. Both Reid and JJ gave him a smile.

"We know, Ed, but like Spence said; we don't really have anything else to do and we figured that we'd just help out," JJ told him before taking a sip of her coffee. "Besides, paperwork is kind of what we do," she added with a smile. "You haven't seen our office yet."

Ed still didn't look overly happy with the fact that the two of them were undertaking the mammoth task by themselves, but before he could offer to help, Fuery got his attention.

"I've finished my report, Ed," Fuery told him, handing the papers over.

"Thanks, Fuery," Ed said with a smile as he accepted the papers and placed them on top of his own report.

"Here you go, chief," Havoc said only a moment later and within the next five minutes, Ed had the reports from his entire team stacked on his desk.

"Thanks, guys," Ed said once he accepted the report from Falman.

"I'm finished as well," Hotch announced. "I just need my team to read it over and sign it now," Hotch said, giving his team a pointed look.

Reid was the first one to read his boss' report and signed it within a minute of having it in his hands. Morgan didn't even bother reading it, trusting that Reid would've pointed out any discrepancies before he added his signature so Morgan just signed it straight away. Rossi, Prentiss and JJ did read it over but they obviously decided to simply skim the pages, the combination of knowing Hotch's reports were always correct and that Reid hadn't picked up any mistakes allowing them to feel comfortable with not giving it a thorough read-through.

"There you go, Ed," Rossi said, handing the report over, now complete with all six BAU agents' signatures on it.

"Thanks, everyone. I'll take these straight up to Grumman then I'll come back and help you guys clear up the case files. We'll probably have to return them to Brookes and Granger today, with the evidence we collected, so that they have them for their records when Belmont is charged," Ed grumbled a bit.

"Your team won't take credit for solving the two cases?" Hotch asked, sounding not at all surprised.

"Well, no," Ed said, a little confused that he was even being asked. "Brookes made the arrest and both he and Granger _did_ do all the leg work that made finding out Belmont's identity that much easier," he said as he gathered all the reports in his automail arm, a little awkwardly because of the sling on his left arm. He could feel the Lions worry about how he was going to manage carrying everything without hurting himself further. "So, Mustang's team and I will sign off as assisting in the two investigations but that's it," Ed told them resolutely, fighting down the flush that threatened when he felt the Lions worry turn into pride in his answer through their bond.

"Are you alright carrying all of that, Ed?" Prentiss asked, nodding to the reports in Ed's arms, worry in her eyes at the thought of Ed taking them to Grumman by himself with one injured arm.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Ed smiled at her, shrugging the papers further up into the crook of his right arm but Prentiss – and several of the others – didn't look overly convinced.

"Why don't you take someone with you to help you out?" Hotch suggested and Ed frowned.

"I don't need any help though," Ed told him, a touch petulantly and Hotch gave his injured arm an extremely pointed look. Ed scowled before giving Breda a look. "Breda, you can come with me," Ed said decisively. Havoc looked a little put-out that he wasn't leaving the office. "Havoc's in charge unless Captain Hawkeye turns up before I do," Ed said as Breda took the reports from him and Havoc looked a lot happier.

"Have fun with Führer Grumman," Fuery said, giving Ed a genuine smile that Ed returned.

"We will," Ed said. "Especially if the two idiot generals are there," Ed added as his grin turned a little too mischievous to be mistaken for anything other than hoping for trouble. It didn't help his self-control when he could feel Red's own hope that Widdon and Combes would turn up and her willingness to offer trouble-making advice.

"At least _try_ and stay out trouble? Please?" JJ asked, not overly hopeful she'd be listened too and sure enough, Ed merely gave her a wink before he disappeared through the door with Breda.

* * *

"Good morning, Miss Samantha," Ed greeted as he walked into the Führer's outer office and spotted his secretary. Samantha looked up, a small amount of surprise on her face as she registered who had just walked into the office.

"Good morning, Lieutenant Colonel Elric, Lieutenant Breda," Samantha greeted as they approached the desk. "How are you healing, Edward?" Samantha asked, dropping the use of his rank at the look he gave her.

"I'm doing fine," Ed assured her before deciding he should probably get to why they were standing in the Führer's outer office. "Is Führer Grumman in? I just have to drop off our reports," Ed said, indicating to the papers in Breda's arms.

"Let me just call him and make sure he isn't busy," Samantha gave him a smile before picking up the phone and dialing the number needed. "Führer Grumman, my apologies for interrupting you. Lieutenant Colonel Elric and Lieutenant Breda are here with the requested reports. Would you like me to permit them entrance?" There was a pause as Samantha listened to the reply. "Very well, Your Excellency," Samantha said before hanging up the phone and standing from her chair. "Führer Grumman will see you now," Samantha said, giving Ed and Breda a smile as she led them to the door.

"Thank you, Samantha," Ed said with a smile of his own as he and Breda walked through the door. He heard Breda thank Samantha as well but all Ed was focusing on in that moment was the mild disappointment that Widdon and Combes weren't in the office. The Lions seemed to be equally disappointed but he shook off the feeling when he heard Samantha closing the door as she returned to her desk. "Good morning, Führer Grumman," Ed said as he saluted. Breda followed suit, once he moved the reports so he could hold them in one arm without dropping the papers everywhere.

"Good morning, gentlemen," Grumman greeted, waving them out of their salutes. "I take it there were no issues writing up the reports?" Grumman asked as Breda handed the papers over at Grumman's gesture.

"No, Sir," Ed told him. "You'll find Agent Hotchner's report with signatures from the rest of his team and a small report from each of them as well," Ed told him. Grumman raised a questioning brow at that since he'd only been expecting the report from Hotch. "A couple of the BAU agents looked far too smug about the fact they didn't have to write a report so Hotch suggested they write a summary of what they saw and heard," Ed told him, the corner of his lip twitching as he held back a smirk.

"Good idea," Grumman said, not bothering to suppress all of his amusement. "Have you heard from the hospital today?" Grumman asked, changing topics as he left the paperwork alone for the moment.

"No, not today. I planned on heading over there at lunchtime to see whether Al and Captain Hawkeye would be released today or not," Ed told him and Grumman nodded.

"I've been meaning to call the hospital for the last hour but I'm afraid my paperwork got the best of me and I simply haven't had the chance to call myself or even remember to ask Samantha to call for me," Grumman scowled minutely at himself.

"If you'd like, I'd be happy to call Samantha with an update when I talk to Doc Evans and Doctor Allen?" Ed offered and Grumman gave him a grateful smile.

"I would certainly appreciate that," Grumman told him. Suddenly, Grumman's expression turned to one of sudden remembrance. "Before I forget, I heard from Lieutenant Colonel Brookes this morning," Grumman told them and both Ed and Breda stood a little more at attention. "He told me that he would be stopping by as soon as he arrives back at the base. He and his team have sorted through enough of the evidence at Major Belmont's home for him to be able to spend a few hours away from them to deal with any matters here at Central Command," Grumman said and both Ed and Breda exchanged excited looks.

Before either man could say anything in response to Grumman, there was a commotion outside the office doors. They heard Samantha's raised voice and the muffled but demanding tones of at least two people through the thick wooden doors. Ed immediately moved into his fighting stance – or the best fighting stance he could take up with one arm in a sling – before he raised his automail arm up to his left hand and alchemised his blade into existence. He felt the Lions' tension through their bond, as well as their dislike for the fact that they couldn't be there to fight with him. Breda stood in a protective stance so he was covering both Grumman and Ed, one hand resting on his still-holstered weapon, ready to draw and fire at a moment's notice, if needed. Grumman rose immediately from his desk and mimicked Breda's stance while all three watched the door intently. Only a couple of moments later did the people belonging to the raised voices burst through the doors, an extremely irate Samantha hot on their heels.

"General Widdon, General Combes, the two of you had better have an extraordinarily amazing reason to have entered my office the way you just did," Grumman's tone was one of controlled anger and even Ed was a little bit scared of his tone. He'd been tacitly under Grumman's command since he joined the military, given that, at the time, Mustang had been assigned to Eastern Command. In all the years he'd been in the military, however, he'd never heard that tone from Grumman.

A touch from Ed on his shoulder had Breda moving out of his protective stance while Ed clapped and retracted his automail blade. Breda moved a couple of steps backwards and stood flush next to Ed, barely leaving any distance between the blonde and himself as the red head scowled at the generals. The Lions were both annoyed and happy with the intrusion. They had really wanted to witness a confrontation between Ed and the two generals. That's when the three of them noticed that Brookes was with the two generals, though he looked as impressed with their behaviour as they were. Samantha looked ready to bite their heads off and it was likely that the only reason she hadn't done so was because Grumman was standing there.

"I apologise, Führer Grumman, but Generals Widdon and Combes refused to listen to me and wait for you to be finished with your meeting," Samantha said, her voice forcibly polite, though shaking with anger.

"You have nothing to apologise for, Samantha," Grumman assured her and made a mental note to buy her something to thank her for trying to deal with them herself. "You may return to your desk," Grumman said and Samantha nodded curtly, shooting a withering glare at the two generals before turning smartly on her heel and closing the door behind her with a soft click.

"I believe it was you, General Widdon, who informed me that my behaviour was that of an ill-mannered child when I interrupted your meeting with Führer Grumman a few days ago," Ed said, voice _just_ this side of scathing. Ed felt Red's approval and mentally chuckled at the Lion.

"It was, indeed. That is why you had better have an astoundingly good excuse for your behaviour," Grumman repeated, reminding the generals that they had yet to answer his first request for a reason. Brookes, in the meantime, had put a definite distance between himself and the generals, standing only a few steps away from Ed and Breda.

"We apologise for our abrupt entry, Your Excellency, but this matter is urgent," Widdon said, completely ignoring Ed's earlier comment, though Combes was glaring at the blonde, who was applying a massive amount of self-control to stop himself flipping the general off. The fact that Red and Blue were trying to convince him to, didn't help his struggle, and it was only Black finally giving her sisters a mental poke that allowed him to regain control of his urge.

"Would you like an engraved invitation to share that urgent matter with us, General Widdon?" Grumman asked, not bothering to try and mask his own scathing tone, when Widdon wasn't immediately forthcoming with his reason. Ed wasn't quick enough to be able to disguise his choked laughter from Grumman's questions and the roaring approval Grumman had just unknowingly received from the Lions as a cough effectively and ended up on the receiving end of two glares from the generals.

"Perhaps it would be prudent to discuss this matter privately, Führer Grumman. I believe Lieutenant Colonel Elric and Lieutenant Breda will not react well to this news." Widdon didn't bother hiding his smug smirk that he directed at Ed and Breda. Ed kept his expression smooth though his heart thumped wildly. Had something happened to Mustang while they were this close to getting him out?

"General Widdon, _you_ were the one to barge in on Lieutenant Colonel Elric's meeting with me. He has every right to know why," Grumman told him. His tone left absolutely no room for argument but that didn't stop the generals from trying.

"That didn't stop you from asking us to leave when Elric decided to barge into our meeting with you," Combes pointed out and Grumman raised a brow at the petulant tone.

"_Child,"_ Red scoffed in Ed's mind and Ed managed to play his snort off as a cough this time.

"He has permission to interrupt me at any time of the day. _You_ do not, and I believe you have forgotten _whose_ office you're standing in exactly," Grumman snapped. "Either tell me why you barged in here as rudely as you did or get out and schedule an appointment with my secretary since the matter is obviously not as urgent as your entrance and claims lead us to believe if you can stand there and argue about who should be in _my_ office right now." Both Widdon and Combes shrunk back a little at the finality in Grumman's tone.

"_I like him,"_ Black said decisively and Ed wasn't surprised.

"We apologise, Führer Grumman," Widdon said, sounding not at all apologetic, merely upset that he hadn't gotten his way. "We've heard that Major Belmont was arrested for the kidnapping of Captain Hawkeye and murder of Lieutenant Colonel Chambers –"

"And assaulting my brother," Ed snapped but Widdon spoke over him as though he hadn't heard the blond alchemist.

"- but we've also heard rumours that Belmont is to be charged with the crimes General Mustang has been charged with and that you will be ordering his release and reinstatement into the military shortly," Widdon said. Combes was standing next to Widdon like an overzealous bulldog but he was so tense as he waited to hear Grumman's response that Ed thought a sharp poke with something would cause the mustached man to explode. Ed was half-tempted to try.

"_Don't," _Black scolded in his mind.

"That's truly fascinating, General Widdon, but I fail to see what that has to do with you being here in this moment," Grumman said, finally sitting back in his chair and leaning back in it to look at the two generals expectantly. Widdon's eye twitched in annoyance but he didn't dare snap at the Führer.

"General Combes and I would like to know if it's true, Sir," Widdon said. Grumman contemplated the response for a few moments.

"If evidence is brought to light proving that Major Belmont was the true mastermind behind the crimes that General Mustang has been arrested for, then yes, he will be released and reinstated to the military while she is charged with the murders and the assault he was," Grumman eventually said. Neither of the generals looked happy with the answer. "Now, if the only reason behind your appalling behaviour was to have me confirm some rumours, I will be most displeased," Grumman said warningly.

"Of course not, Sir," Widdon said. "The true reason behind us being here is to warn you to not buy into the lies that Lieutenant Colonel Elric will try and sell you in his and his team's desperate attempts to try and free their commanding officer," Widdon said. Ed wasn't sure whether he was holding Breda back or if Breda was holding him from reacting at first but when Ed caught sight of Combes' gloating grin, it was _definitely_ Breda holding him back.

"_Edward, you won't get anywhere if you strike him. You know he's lying and you need to trust that your Führer knows that as well," _Blue said soothingly. Her sisters did their best to help her calm Ed down enough that he wouldn't knock a general out.

"You see, Führer Grumman?" Widdon suddenly gloated, looking victoriously at Ed. "He knows he has been caught out and is trying to stop us from telling you about his lies," Widdon claimed and it took everything in Ed to not snarl at the man.

"What proof do you have to back up your claims of Lieutenant Colonel Elric's deception?" Grumman asked, voice sounding mildly curious.

"We received an anonymous tip that Lieutenant Colonel Elric fabricated the piece of evidence that led Lieutenant Colonel Brookes to consider Major Belmont the so-called 'mastermind' behind the crimes committed by General Mustang. The tip claimed that it was Elric or one of his team who fabricated this evidence," Widdon told Grumman gleefully. Ed and Breda collectively rolled their eyes and Ed felt the Lions doing the same through their bond.

"Which piece of evidence?" Grumman asked and that seemed to cause Widdon some slight hesitation.

"The piece of evidence naming Belmont as the person behind the crimes Mustang has been charged with, Sir," Widdon repeated and Grumman's eyes narrowed.

"You said that but _which_ piece of evidence?" Grumman asked once more but cut off any answer before it could be voiced. "Because from what I understand from Lieutenant Colonel Elric's report and from what Lieutenant Colonel Brookes has told me himself, there were at least _three_ sources that led Lieutenant Colonel Elric, his team and the consultant team to identify Major Belmont as the person behind the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Frank Chambers, the assault and kidnapping of Captain Riza Hawkeye and the assault of Alphonse Elric," Grumman told them before cutting Widdon and Combes off once more, "_and_ from what I understood from my talk with Lieutenant Colonel Brookes just this morning, at this time Major Belmont is _not_ considered a suspect in the murders of Captain Bryce, Major Pardi, Colonel Summers, Generals Henley or Andrews nor is she considered a suspect in the assault of General Armstrong. Is that correct, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes?" Grumman asked.

"Yes, Führer Grumman. At the time of my talk with you this morning, Major Belmont wasn't considered to be involved in those crimes," Brookes told them, keeping his gaze firmly on Grumman and ignoring the very unfriendly looks he was getting from Widdon and Combes.

"Well?" Grumman asked the generals, raising a judgmental brow at them both. Combes shot Ed a nasty look that had the blond confused for a moment. He hadn't done anything in the last couple of minutes to warrant that look. He could feel the Lions own apprehension and worry for his safety.

"We believe that Alphonse Elric provided a false witness statement in that he chose a random military officer not connected to General Mustang's team and described her to Major Armstrong in an attempt to help his brother in his desperate attempt to free General Mustang." You could practically hear the jaws drop of nearly everybody in the room after Widdon's claim.

"Excuse me, you overly pretentious bag of –" Ed snapped as Breda held onto his automail arm with a very tight grip to stop him from moving forward. Ed could hear the Lions roaring insults in his mind at the generals but he was interrupted just as he was about to repeat some of their very creative insults by Grumman holding his hand up for silence. Ed obeyed it but he let out a snarl when Widdon and Combes looked triumphant.

"You see how he reacts, Führer Grumman? Clearly, Lieutenant Colonel Elric hadn't expected us to uncover his deception and is obviously guilty," Widdon crowed while Combes puffed up his chest.

"Let me go, Breda. I'm only gonna hit them a little," Ed snarled as he tried to tug himself free from Breda's really impressive grip. He felt the Lions indignation and heard their muttered threats through his bond with them.

"_If we ever manage to visit your dimension, I'm going to accidentally tear their throats out,"_ Red vowed. Since the others didn't try and tell her that was a bad idea, Ed took it to mean they were on board with the plan.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric, please refrain from striking them while I am present. I'm afraid I would be forced to take disciplinary action against you for striking a superior officer," Grumman said, keeping his voice level as he watched the two generals coolly. "Who is your source for this information?" Grumman asked.

"Our informant wishes to remain anonymous. They are afraid of the possible danger to their person should Elric or his team learn of their identity," Widdon informed Grumman, smugness oozing from his voice.

"You two are the only ones who should be afraid of possible danger to their person from me," Ed muttered, loud enough for the generals to hear him but low enough that Grumman could claim ignorance.

"I see," Grumman said. "What _exactly_ did this informant tell you?" Grumman asked, for all intents and purposes seeming to believe them. Ed was almost certain that this was a case of letting them take enough rope to hang themselves but a very small part of him was terrified that Grumman might believe them, despite the Lions efforts to assure him otherwise.

"Our informant claims to have overheard Alphonse Elric colluding with his brother just before their meeting with Major Armstrong to try and come up with a suitable scapegoat. According to our source, they finally settled on Major Belmont only minutes before Major Armstrong was due to meet with them," Widdon reported.

"So did your informant claim that Alphonse Elric faked his own assault?" Grumman asked.

"No, Sir. We believe the assault to have been real but we believe the assailant to have been a random mugger. We believe that Alphonse Elric and his brother seized the opportunity to create this remarkable fable of Alphonse Elric's attacker being behind the crimes that General Mustang committed," Widdon told him, obviously enjoying the fact that Grumman seemed to believe him, if the gloating look he shot Ed was anything to go by.

"I see," Grumman said before leaning back in his chair. "And what of my granddaughter?" Grumman asked and you could see the moment the generals realised they'd forgotten completely about Hawkeye. "Was the fact that she was kidnapped and tortured _at_ Belmont's hand, _in_ Belmont's childhood home – where she was later found tied to a chair and rescued by Lieutenant Colonels Elric and Brookes – was that also a – and I'm paraphrasing here – 'remarkable fable created in order to have General Mustang released'?" Grumman asked, doing an envious job of keeping his voice completely calm.

"No, Sir. We aren't claiming that Captain Hawkeye never went through that traumatic ordeal at all," Widdon claimed, trying to sound reassuring while obviously trying to come up with a way to salvage the believability of his claims. The Lions scoffed in Ed's head at how quickly Widdon and Combes' claims were being shredded apart.

"Then I'm afraid I must admit to being a little confused by what you're trying to say," Grumman told them. "Since the sketch of Major Belmont was one of the crucial pieces needed for Lieutenant Colonels Elric and Brookes, their teams and the team of consultants to confirm her identity and rescue Captain Hawkeye, how can you claim Alphonse Elric and Lieutenant Colonel Elric chose Belmont at random mere moments before Major Armstrong arrived in Alphonse Elric's hospital room? After all, if she truly didn't assault Alphonse Elric than she couldn't be the one behind Captain Hawkeye's kidnapping and torture," Grumman pointed out.

"_When we get to your dimension, I want him to be one of the first people we're introduced too,"_ Black informed Ed, who sent a silent promise he'd do his best. The Lions settled themselves down enough so they could listen to everything going on without distracting Ed too much now.

"That is correct, Sir. We believe Belmont to be innocent of Captain Hawkeye's kidnapping as well," Widdon said, trying to salvage what he could. Grumman merely raised an unimpressed brow.

"Before she was sedated, Major Belmont made numerous claims to being behind Captain Hawkeye's kidnapping, as well as numerous other crimes to the hospital staff as she begged them to release her so she could finish the job, as she put it. Are you saying those claims were also falsified by Lieutenant Colonel Elric and his brother?" Grumman asked and now it was Ed's turn to shoot the generals a triumphant look.

"No, Sir, but-" Widdon tried to say something more but Grumman spoke over him.

"Are you claiming that the word of Captain Hawkeye is also false? That she decided to let her kidnapper and torturer walk free in public just to try and frame Major Belmont, who _you_ claimed you were told about being chosen _after_ Alphonse Elric's assault and Captain Hawkeye's kidnapping, therefore giving neither Lieutenant Colonel Elric or his brother the opportunity to collude with Captain Hawkeye?" Grumman asked, his tone obtaining a steely edge to it. "Let me remind you, generals; you just told me you believed Belmont was framed for the kidnapping and torture of Captain Hawkeye. Either you don't truly believe that or you believe that somehow, Lieutenant Colonel Elric or his brother have the ability to telepathically talk with Captain Hawkeye and come up with this plan or it was a fantastical coincidence that the Major was chosen at complete random, _twice_, to be the 'scapegoat', as you put it, for General Mustang. So which is it?" Grumman demanded, glaring at the two men in question.

"It is possible that Lieutenant Colonel Elric told Captain Hawkeye of the plan and ordered her to follow it while he was rescuing her from the basement," Widdon said, though his voice made it obvious that he knew he was about to lose this.

"Would you trust the word of your subordinate?" Grumman asked, a pointed look being thrown at Brookes. "He was with either Lieutenant Colonel Elric or Captain Hawkeye at all times before the drivers turned up to take them to the hospital," Grumman said, beckoning Brookes forward. The man in question did take a couple of steps forward and did his best to not look nervous to be in the middle of his superiors and the Führer.

"Of course we trust his word, Führer Grumman. We've never known Lieutenant Colonel Brookes to lie to us," Widdon said, leveling a threatening look towards Brookes. Ed felt the disbelieving scoffs from the Lions.

"What do you have to say about General Widdon's claims that Lieutenant Colonel Elric conspired with Captain Hawkeye in the basement?" Grumman asked Brookes, deciding not to comment on the silent threat since the Lieutenant Colonel didn't seem fazed by it.

"With all due respect to Generals Widdon and Combes, they're wrong in their accusations of Lieutenant Colonel Elric, Alphonse Elric and Captain Hawkeye. Neither one of them provided a false statement to me and I went over all of the evidence Lieutenant-Elric, his team and the team of consultants were able to compile and I am completely confident that every single piece was genuine," Brookes told Grumman, absolute certainty in his voice.

"_We need to meet him as well,"_ Green told Ed, who barely stopped his grin from showing.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel," Grumman said with a nod before looking back at the generals. "Now, are there any more baseless accusations you'd like to make while completely ignoring all of the irrefutable evidence already collected against Major Belmont?" Grumman asked, voice taking on a slightly mocking tone. Ed couldn't help himself as he watched the two generals try and splutter indignantly, half-formed defensive reasons spilling from their mouths; the blonde started laughing, the Lions doing the same in his mind.

"You two really are the most desperate assholes I've ever come across! It's honestly impressive the lengths you're willing to go to in order to try and keep Mustang in jail and it makes me immensely curious as to _why_ exactly you want him out of the military so badly," Ed's voice had turned from thoroughly amused to exceptionally suspicious as he spoke, "but both of you just made one of the dumbest mistakes you could make. You just accused my brother of lying to the military and we Elrics are renowned for our inability to let go of a grudge," Ed told them, the threat obvious in his voice. Both Widdon and Combes spluttered at his words but neither were able to say anything in their defense when a new voice sounded from behind them.

"I see the two of you haven't learned your lesson about falsifying evidence after your failed and laughable attempt at trying to guilt me into falsifying my statement to you." Lieutenant General Armstrong cut an imposing figure as she stood in the doorway of the Führer's office. Samantha shot Ed and Grumman an apologetic look for the interruption from where she stood behind Armstrong but she shot a vindictive look at the two generals.

"My apologies, Führer Grumman, but Lieutenant General Armstrong was most insistent she speak with you and those in your office. I saw no reason to refuse her request as she was polite but I apologise if I was mistaken, Sir," Samantha said, bowing slightly to Grumman and ignoring the quiet snarls she got from the generals at the not so subtle jab to the two of them.

"Thank you, Samantha. I'm sure you made the correct call," Grumman said, dismissing his secretary, who left silently. "Good morning, Lieutenant General Armstrong," Grumman offered the Ice Queen as she moved into parade rest, her hands clasped behind her back, throwing a freezing glare at Combes when he made a noise of protest and waving Ed, Brookes and Breda out of the salutes they'd given the moment Grumman sent Samantha away. "How are you?" Grumman asked as he eyed the bandage still wrapped around her head.

"I'm healing at a satisfactory rate and am more than willing to resume my command at Fort Briggs, Führer Grumman," Armstrong informed him. Her eyes glanced uncaringly at the others in the office with them. "Lieutenant Colonel Elric, it seems you've managed to get yourself injured again. Nothing severe enough that you won't be able to keep your promise to me, I imagine," Armstrong stated and Edward nodded.

"I'd be happy to keep that promise at your leisure, General Armstrong," Ed told her, the personification of respect.

"_She seems scary. We need to meet her as well,"_ Red informed Ed, who nearly choked on the idea of introducing the Ice Queen to the Lions of Voltron.

She nodded to Ed, which he barely noticed, before turning her attention back to Grumman. "I've heard rumours that it's likely that Major Belmont will likely be charged with my assault and Brigadier General Mustang is likely to be released from prison. Ordinarily, I wouldn't bother listening to, let alone putting stock in any rumours but as it involves my case, I would appreciate it if you would confirm or deny these rumours, Führer Grumman," Armstrong asked, straight to the point as always.

"I was told by Lieutenant Colonel Brookes that he would be dropping by my office with information about whether the charges against either Mustang or Belmont would change. Am I correct in assuming that that is the actual reason you're here, Lieutenant Colonel?" Grumman asked Brookes, who nodded immediately.

"It is, Führer Grumman, Sir," Brookes told him, stepping forward once more. "My team and I have been working on sorting through the evidence uncovered in Major Belmont's childhood and current homes all night. She was smart enough to hide as much as possible in her childhood home so our focus has mainly been on it," Brookes started saying.

"Major Belmont is extremely organised and meticulous in her work life and it appears that habit has carried over to her criminal activities as we uncovered dozens of notebooks, all written by Belmont, that she started writing shortly after Promised Day," Brookes explained. "In them, she describes in explicit detail about how she was planning to get her revenge on General Mustang. She had several plans before she ultimately settled on this one, including – but not limited to – a plan to pick off Mustang's team one by one." Brookes glanced at Ed and Breda to see if they were alright before continuing when he was satisfied enough to keep talking.

"She stalked General Mustang for months, gathering and recording data on him in an almost religious manner. She learned all of his habits, the names and lives of everyone he met regularly and the names of every person who wasn't a fan of his," Brookes told them. "She was confused when Brigadier General Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Elric disappeared on their first classified mission for you, Führer Grumman, but she spent those days stalking the rest of the team to learn their habits so she could take them into account for when she put her plan in effect." Breda looked a little stunned that he had been stalked and Ed nudged him lightly, trying to see if he was alright. Breda gave a slight nod in response to Ed's silent question and they focused back on Brookes.

"She even wrote about what happened the weekend Mustang received his promotion," Brookes went on to say. "Apparently, upon hearing the news, she became filled with so much rage that she left her townhouse and started walking in a random direction. She could feel that her anger wasn't dissipating and was consumed by the uncontrollable urge to hurt someone. Unfortunately for him, she stumbled upon Lieutenant Colonel Frank Chambers in an alley behind The Amestrian pub. He said something to her but she wrote that all she heard at the time was the blood pounding in her ears. She wrote that upon seeing Chambers, all of her anger was suddenly directed at him so she picked up the closest heavy object, a pipe that we know she kept after the fact and lashed out at him. Despite his inebriated state, Belmont wrote that Chambers fought back, ripping a button from her military-issued jacket when he grabbed it to try and get her away from him. She eventually landed a strike that knocked him out completely, according to her diary, and covered him with the ethyl alcohol that she had started carrying in a bottle in her jacket pocket before using a lighter to set him on fire. She then went on to say that she panicked when she realised what she had done and fled the scene, taking only the bottle and the pipe with her. She noted that she'd thought about going back to the scene to collect the button and any other possible evidence left behind but that she talked herself out of it, convinced that the moment she chose to go back to the scene would be the moment someone discovered his body." Both Widdon and Combes were looking extremely impatient with how long it was taking Brookes to get through the report.

"What do we care about some insignificant Lieutenant Colonel's death? Just admit that Belmont wrote how she witnessed Mustang attacking the victims already!" Combes evidently couldn't contain himself any longer. Ed nearly flinched against the strength of the Lions' snarls. Grumman shot him a reprimanding look but it was Armstrong who actually berated him out loud.

"If you don't mind, Brigadier General Combes, but we are listening to Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' report, not the fairy-tale you've concocted in order to rid yourself of someone only you, Widdon and other sniveling cowards of your caliber are afraid of," Armstrong snapped, causing the two generals to jerk back a little and Ed to duck his face behind Breda until he was confident he could school his expression into something more neutral than the ridiculous grin he was sporting right now.

"I'll ask everyone to refrain from making unnecessary outbursts or other such distractions, unless it is a question for Brookes to clarify something," Grumman ordered. "Please continue, Lieutenant Colonel," Grumman requested, nodding to Brookes.

"Thank you, Sir," Brookes said before continuing his report. "When Brigadier General Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Elric disappeared on their second classified mission for you, Your Excellency, Belmont did the same as she'd done so before; she stalked his team once more while she continued her planning. When Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Elric returned, she resumed stalking the general once more," Brookes told them, "but when General Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Elric fell ill for those ten or so days a few months back, Belmont used the opportunity to narrow down her victim list and try and get an idea of their schedules, once she was certain that Mustang wouldn't be returning to work for a little while. She discovered quickly that Captain Bryce was an easy target, with his propensity to get extremely drunk and to hit on any woman close by to him. However, Major Pardi, Colonel Summers and Generals Henley, Andrews and Armstrong wouldn't be as easy to deal with and she knew she would have to develop another way to lure them into a trap." Brookes paused for a moment to take a breath before continuing.

"She actually confirmed a lot of our theories about how she lured the other victims into the alley," Brookes said, nodding at Ed. "She alchemised a stone wall to hide herself in the shadows of the alley while she lured Pardi, Summers, Andrews and yourself, General Armstrong, using a recording of her own voice calling weakly for help. We recovered the voice recording and at your convenience, General Armstrong, I would like to play it for you to see if you can confirm it was the voice you heard in the alley," Brookes nodded at Armstrong.

"I imagine I'll have plenty of time to arrange a meeting with you before I am permitted to return to Fort Briggs," Armstrong told him and Brookes nodded in thanks.

"We also found proof that Belmont used a different tactic for General Henley," Brookes told them, continuing to give his verbal report. "She had hidden herself in an alley that Henley usually walked past on her typical route home. She convinced Henley that she had proof of something that would ruin Mustang's career if it ever came to light. When Henley questioned why she would give her documents as sensitive as that when she could keep them until she needed something from Mustang, Belmont spun a tale of how she believed Henley was truly innocent and that she couldn't stand seeing such an injustice happening against a woman like Henley. Henley obviously fell for it," Brookes said, a touch drily.

"She also confirmed that Andrews fought back, just as Lieutenant General Armstrong had done so. Unfortunately, Andrews hadn't realised the trap for what it was as quickly as General Armstrong had and he still caught a glancing blow to his temple from the initial swing of the pipe. It didn't knock him out immediately but he likely would've been off-balance and the blow likely affected his vision and she was able to overpower him." Ed felt a stab of pride and sadness at the news that Andrews had fought back and he felt the Lions sending warmth and love through the bond in an effort to comfort him.

"What I wish to know is how Belmont knew I would be in Central when I was? I changed my day of arrival at the last minute and no one, aside from my family, had known of my meeting with Führer Grumman. Did she mention anything in her notes about that?" Armstrong asked and Brookes nodded.

"You weren't considered to be someone she was going to target as a part of the plan. You were more of a," Brookes paused as he thought of the correct term, "target of opportunity. As for _how_ she knew you were here, it really was just a complete coincidence she found out. Her commanding officer, Colonel Rubio, had sent her to pick up a parcel his team was expecting on the train you travelled in on and she spotted you in the crowd. She knew your reputation and she knew about your dislike of Brigadier General from the months she spent stalking him and realised that attacking you would be the final attack that she needed in order to get Brigadier General Mustang arrested." Armstrong couldn't even be mad that she was a victim of mere convenience. "When she realised you were in town, she followed you as best she could. She overheard Major Armstrong informing his team of your dinner plans and she discovered that you would be meeting with Führer Grumman that night thanks to overhearing someone gossiping about it on the base," Brookes explained and Armstrong felt a strong twinge of annoyance at the fact that she'd had to continue enduring her family for far longer than she had done so since before her deployment to Fort Briggs because a serial killer intent on taking down Mustang had figured out her schedule due to happenstance and gossiping soldiers.

"Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, this is still your investigation and Belmont is entirely your arrest," Grumman interrupted Armstrong's thoughts as he addressed Brookes. "It's your solely your decision about how to proceed with the evidence you and your team have uncovered."

Brookes nodded respectfully to Grumman even as he felt the glares he was getting from the two generals. He could see the looks Ed and Breda were giving the generals on behalf of Brookes from the corner of his eye. A quick glance to Armstrong showed she was waiting with the controlled expression that was ever-present on her face, appearing completely uncaring about what decision he would make and Brookes knew that she only cared enough to make sure the correct person was punished for the crimes.

"I request an arrest warrant for Major Belmont so she may be charged with the murders of Captain Chase Bryce, Major Colin Pardi, Colonel James Summers, Brigadier General Aleyce Henley, and Major General Bernard Andrews and the assault and attempted murder of Lieutenant General Armstrong. I also request your permission to have her face all charges pending against her during the one trial," Brookes asked, ignoring the outraged stares he could feel Widdon and Combes directing his way.

"I approve both your requests," Grumman told him.

"Thank you, Sir. In light of your approval to the aforementioned requests, I do have one more to ask of you," Brookes said and Grumman nodded for him to continue. "As Major Belmont is soon to be charged with the same crimes General Mustang has been charged with and there is not only a lack of evidence to support he was behind those crimes but there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that Mustang was working with Belmont to plan and commit these crimes, I request that all charges pending against General Mustang be dropped and he be released as soon as possible, as well as be reinstated into the military with no repercussions or notations against his service record." Ed could've sworn the room itself held its breath as they waited for Grumman's answer. Even the Lions were completely silent, their presence humming in his mind the only indication that Ed's bond with them was still intact.

"Your request is granted. I'll have the paperwork for both the arrest warrant for Major Belmont and the release of Brigadier General Mustang drawn up and ready to be processed as soon as possible," Grumman said.

The effect those words had on the whole room was immediate. Brookes and Armstrong looked relieved, though Armstrong schooled her features impressively quickly. Ed was trying very hard to not join in with the celebratory roars sounding in his head while Breda managed to limit his own excitement at having solved this whole case and save Mustang to drawing Ed into a side-hug and refusing to dim the bright grin on his face. Ed didn't even protest the hug or following hair ruffle like he ordinarily would've. The only people in the room who weren't satisfied were the two generals.

"By your leave, Führer Grumman?" Widdon ground out as Combes literally shook with anger next to him. Both men were bright red in their efforts to hold back their fury and Widdon's clenched fists were trembling with the effort it took for him to keep his voice as controlled as he did.

"Do not think you will be getting out of a discussion about the appalling behaviour the two of you exhibited the past few days. We _will_ be scheduling a meeting in the very near future to discuss your orders to deprive General Mustang of visitation rights with no justifiable cause, the blatant disregard you showed to my secretary and my office once again, and the disgusting and obvious attempt to pervert justice to suit your personal needs by slandering Lieutenant Colonel Elric and Alphonse Elric's good names with absolutely no proof to substantiate your claims and the malicious rumours that have spread through Central Command and the city itself that I can _prove_ originated from your office. There are many other things we will be discussing in that meeting but what I've just listed will be the main topics we will be covering," Grumman informed them, voice cold enough to rival General Armstrong's on her testiest days. "I will be having Samantha schedule the meeting at _my_ earliest convenience. She will call your offices with a day and time and you will rearrange your own schedules to fit around the time Samantha gives you. I will accept nothing short of you being hospitalised or killed as an excuse to miss the meeting. Am I absolutely clear?" Grumman asked and Ed felt a slight perverse pleasure at the way the two generals squirmed.

"Crystal clear, Sir," Widdon said, saluting as he did so though it did look like both the words and action were physically hurting him. Grumman glared at Combes.

"Yes, Führer Grumman," Combes nearly spat out as he saluted as well. Grumman made them hold the salutes for a few seconds longer than he normally would've.

"You're dismissed," Grumman said, waving them away with a careless flick of his hand. The two generals left without another word, just barely managing to not slam the door behind them. When the door slammed shut, Armstrong stood from her chair.

"Thank you for allowing me to participate in this meeting, Führer Grumman. I am admittedly glad that the correct person will be paying for my assault and the murders. I didn't believe General Mustang had been behind my attack. He may be an insufferable flirt and a soft-hearted fool but he isn't a coward and only a coward would've run before finishing me off just because they heard a door closing nearby," Armstrong said, a little stiffly since she had basically praised Mustang. She turned her blue eyes on Ed, who managed to stop himself from using Breda as a human shield, though it was a close thing. "I'll also admit to being surprised that you and your team were able to uncover the truth in less than a week, especially when the lead investigators had the cases for months and the only decent suspect they could scrounge up was Mustang," Armstrong informed Ed. Brookes winced a little but he didn't argue since she was absolutely correct.

"Thank you, Lieutenant General Armstrong, but it wasn't just my team who helped uncover the truth. The team of consultants was a massive boon to our case and we had an advantage over Lieutenant Colonels Brookes and Granger. They had to start the investigation at the very beginning while we were able to start with all of the information they had to uncover," Ed told her modestly.

"When can I expect you to keep your word about the conversation you owe me?" Armstrong asked instead of berating Ed for being too soft like she wanted too. Her head was starting to ache something fierce and she desired nothing more than to head back to the hospital. Not that she would ever admit those thoughts out loud.

"I'll be heading back to Resembool in the next couple of days as my automail is due for maintenance, but I'll be back in Central in a week for a check-up. I'm willing to meet with you whenever suits you best, General Armstrong," Edward told her.

"Very well. I will let you know when I wish to meet," Armstrong informed him. Ed nodded in acceptance and Armstrong turned back to Grumman. "Once again, I thank you, Führer Grumman, for allowing me to interrupt your meeting with no warning."

"I am pleased to hear you are doing well, General Armstrong. I would appreciate the chance to have the meeting that we were scheduled to have tomorrow afternoon, if it's not an inconvenience," Grumman said and Armstrong nodded.

"I'll organise a time with your secretary, Sir," Armstrong said before she saluted. "By your leave, Führer Grumman."

"You're dismissed, General Armstrong," Grumman said. Armstrong waved Brookes, Ed, and Breda's salutes away as she left the office, closing the door behind her with much more respect than the two generals who had recently left. "Lieutenant Colonel Brookes, if you're willing to wait a few minutes, I'll have the second arrest warrant written up for Major Belmont," Grumman told him and Brookes nodded.

"I'm happy to wait, Sir," Brookes assured him. Grumman nodded at the man before turning the other two people in his office.

"I imagine the two of you likely still have some paperwork to deal with. Thank you for submitting the reports and I'll hear from you once you've been to the hospital, Lieutenant Colonel Elric," Grumman said, smiling at them knowingly. Both Ed and Breda began nodding emphatically.

"Thank you, Führer Grumman. I'll call Miss Samantha once I've spoken to Captain Hawkeye," Ed said, giving Grumman a salute as Breda mimicked his words and actions.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel. You're dismissed," Grumman said, waving the salutes away.

"Cheers, Grumman. See you later, Brookes!" Ed waved at the other Lieutenant Colonel as he and Breda disappeared out of the office. Grumman just shook his head at the familiar informality as he dug through his desk for the documents he needed.

* * *

Breda and Ed didn't run to Mustang's office but it was a near thing. In fact, the only thing that had stopped them from doing so was the fact that Ed had the leg injury and Breda had decided that they shouldn't risk his stitches. The fact that the Lions had also vetoed the idea of running to the office as fast as possible by pointing out that the news wouldn't change no matter how long it took them to get to the office helped make Ed realise that walking wouldn't be a bad idea. At the very least, he wouldn't get a lecture from everyone else for popping his stitches if he just walked.

"You know something, Ed? It's almost surreal that less than a week ago we were woken by phone calls from Captain Hawkeye telling us that General Mustang had been arrested and to be prepared for the office to be raided the next morning and now we're about to tell the teams that Belmont is going to be charged and Mustang will be released," Breda said, a little disbelievingly as they walked to the office.

"I know. When the BAU turned up and Führer Grumman gave us the week to find Belmont, I'll admit that I didn't completely believe we could do it inside the week," Ed admitted. "Part of me thought that we would still be looking for the real killer while Mustang was on trial and an even smaller part of me thought we might never find out who framed Mustang in time." The Lions sent him a warm feeling through their bond as Ed panicked slightly when he realised he'd admitted that out loud.

"I thought the same thing when you told us we had a week," Breda told him, giving him a small smile as he nudged his automail arm.

"Should we get food before we go back? Or do you think I should get better food as a celebration when I leave the hospital?" Ed asked, changing the subject to something less emotionally revealing. Breda grinned, knowing what the blond was doing.

"I think the mess sandwiches are not good celebration food," Breda told him honestly and Ed grinned.

"True but I'm not paying for everyone again. You lot are springing for your own food," Ed told him and Breda groaned good-naturedly.

"If we must," Breda groaned dramatically, causing Ed to chuckle. Breda joined in a moment later before starting a debate about where they should get food from when their laughter died down.

* * *

They finally reached the office and by an unspoken agreement, they entered the office with their excitement carefully hidden from their faces. Ed glanced around the office as they entered and saw that the scattered notebooks and files had almost been completely cleared from the desks and floor and returned to the appropriate box so that the office desks were now covered mostly by the usual day-to-day papers.

"Hey, Ed. How'd you do with Führer Grumman?" Rossi asked once he spotted the two men entering the room.

"Handed off the reports with no problems but we were interrupted by Widdon and Combes barging into Grumman's office like they owned the place. Miss Samantha and Brookes were not impressed," Ed told them as he and Breda sat at their desks.

"To be honest, no one except for the generals were impressed by their behaviour," Breda told them and Ed nodded in agreement.

"What happened?" Hotch asked and Ed sighed.

"They found out about Belmont being charged for what happened to Captain Hawkeye, Al and Chambers and heard rumours that she'll be charged with the crimes Mustang has been charged with so they decided to confront the Führer about it," Ed told them, scowling at the memory of the generals' behaviour. "When Grumman pointed out that they had no evidence suggesting that Belmont was behind framing Mustang – which Brookes backed up – so Belmont wasn't being charged with those crimes at that time, they claimed to have evidence that Al and I chose Belmont as a scapegoat in a desperate attempt to get Mustang out of prison." Everyone except Breda looked various degrees of shocked and angry.

"I almost wish I witnessed your reaction to that, chief," Havoc said wistfully. Ed rolled his eyes.

"I tried to hit them but Breda held me back and Grumman told me I couldn't physically assault them in front of him or he'd be forced to charge me with assault. He didn't say shit about me attacking them in the hallway or something so you might get to witness something yet," Ed told Havoc who looked a little excited by that prospect.

"Don't beat them up where you could get caught, Edward," JJ told him sternly and Ed couldn't help but notice her word choice.

"Yes, ma'am," Ed said with a cheeky wink. Someone made an impatient noise – Ed suspected Havoc – and Ed took the hint. "Anyway, Brookes looked as stunned as Breda and I were at their claim. According to the generals, they received an anonymous tip that claimed that Al was mugged, not attacked, but that he and I decided to make up a story about him being attacked by someone claiming to have been behind the crimes Mustang was charged with and that we chose Belmont because we didn't know her too well. Grumman tore them apart using logic and it was honestly a thing of beauty to witness," Ed told them with a laugh. "He pointed out that Captain Hawkeye had been kidnapped during Al's assault and asked whether the generals were claiming that never happened so they changed their story to claim that Belmont wasn't behind Captain Hawkeye's kidnapping and assault. Grumman pointed out that we found her in Belmont's childhood home and that Belmont had spent several minutes yelling at hospital staff about how she was behind everything before the sedation kicked in. Brookes was also asked to say whether Captain Hawkeye and I spent any time talking about framing Belmont while we were in the basement and he basically told Grumman that the generals were idiots though he did it a lot nicer than I would've." Several chuckles sounded in the room as they imagined what Ed would've said.

"Lieutenant General Armstrong also arrived after Grumman finished destroying the general's claims and she berated them for their efforts," Ed went on saying. "She had dropped by to see if the rumours about Mustang and Belmont were true and Grumman asked Brookes whether his team had found anything," Ed told them, watching as they all seemed to tense up as they realised that Brookes had been there for a reason. "Brookes told Grumman about how he and his team finished reading most of Belmont's diaries. Belmont will be charged with the five murders and Armstrong's assault and Mustang will have all charges formally dropped against him and will likely be out of that cell by tomorrow afternoon," Ed told them and grinned at everyone's reactions.

Mustang's team all let out whoops of victory and clapped everyone they could reach on the back. Morgan joined in and Ed found himself on the receiving end of several hugs and hair ruffles, which caused him to glare at the perpetrators. The rest of the BAU agents were a lot quieter in their celebration although just as proud of the work they'd accomplished. There were shared grins at the Amestrians' reactions and quietly said praises from Hotch to his team.

"What's all this noise about?" An amused voice sounded from the doorway and everyone turned to see Al standing there.

"Al? Did you finally realise hospitals suck and escape? How did you slip past Doc Evans?" Ed asked as he hopped up from his chair to pull his younger brother into a one-armed hug.

"I was released, brother, and hospitals aren't evil!" Al exclaimed, rolling his eyes as he carefully returned the hug.

"One day you all will see I'm right about them," Ed claimed as he and Al let go of each other. "Seriously, though, how come you're here? Who drove you?" Ed asked as the others started coming over to say hello to the younger Elric.

"Hello, everyone," Al smiled warmly at the room before answering Ed. "Doctor Evans did his rounds and said I was fine to go, so long as I called the hospital immediately if I felt dizzy or nauseous for any reason," Al told him. "We called a military car to come and pick us up, by the way," Al said and Ed's attention was immediately drawn to two words in particular.

"'We'?" Ed asked, looking behind Al as though he expected someone to come walking in behind him.

"Captain Hawkeye was released too but she asked me to tell you that she was going to go see Führer Grumman first to let him know she's alright," Al told him and Ed nodded.

"Fair enough. Grumman has been really worried about her, even if he can't really show it. I was going to leave in a couple of minutes to go and see the two of you in the hospital and call Grumman with an update on Captain Hawkeye," Ed told him. "I was going to grab some lunch on my back from the hospital so we could have a celebratory lunch."

"What are you celebrating?" Al asked curiously.

"The charges against Mustang will be dropped and he'll be released in a day or so while Belmont will be charged with those murders and the assault," Ed told his brother, a massive grin on his face.

"That's great!" Al exclaimed, pulling Ed back into another careful hug. "General Mustang will be really excited to hear about that," Al went on to say as he released Ed.

"I'm sure he will be," Hotch said. "It's good to see you out of the hospital, Alphonse." Hotch gave the younger Elric a rare smile.

"Thank you, Agent Hotchner," Al said before turning back to his brother. "When are you going to get lunch? I'm starving," Al asked, whining a little and pouting when several of the others laughed at him.

"You can't half-tell that you're related to Ed, can you?" Morgan laughed harder when he saw he was on the receiving end of a glare from each Elric.

"We can go out and get the food if you want, Ed," Fuery offered once the laughter in the room had died down.

"That would be great, Fuery," Ed said before addressing the room. "Alright, what does everyone feel like for lunch?" He asked and soon the room was filled with discussions about where they should get their lunch from.

* * *

After a far lengthier debate amongst everyone than Ed truly expected, they settled on a restaurant and Fuery, Rossi and Reid all left to go pick up everyone's orders. Ed handed over enough money to cover himself, Al and a couple of the other's meals with a reminder to pick up something for Hawkeye before the trio left. Once they had gone, Ed and Al sat down so Ed and Breda could regale Al with the events that had happened in Grumman's office. Al had looked like he was going to reprimand Ed for his comment about their behaviour until Ed told him about what the generals' accusation was. For a moment, Ed had thought his younger brother might actually go and track Widdon and Combes down and give them a piece of his mind.

Ed hadn't missed the way Al scowled slightly any time Mustang's name was mentioned and it confused him for a few moments before he realised that he'd never told his brother about Mustang's apology or his offer to teach Ed flame alchemy. He'd cast his mind back to when he told Al about what had happened with Belmont, curious about why Al hadn't questioned the flame alchemy he'd preformed to get himself and Brookes out of the basement, and almost hit his head on the desk when he realised he'd never mentioned it. He only told Al that he'd managed to cause a distraction that bought him and Brookes enough time to get out of the basement. He'd been about to tell Al about being taught flame alchemy when Fuery, Rossi and Reid turned back up with food. They hadn't even set it on the desks when Hawkeye walked in behind them.

"Captain Hawkeye!" Ed exclaimed, surprised to see her in the office so quickly. She gave him a large, genuine smile as she walked over to the desks. Ed noted she was barely limping but he also knew that her ability to hide how much pain she was in could rival his own.

"Captain Hawkeye!" Several of the others said, sounding just as surprised as Ed when they realised she actually was in the room.

"Hello, everyone. I trust nothing major has happened in my absence, other than what happened in Führer Grumman's office this morning?" Hawkeye asked, eyeing up the Amestrians in particular.

"No, Captain. The news about Belmont and General Mustang has been the only excitement since the chief's release yesterday," Havoc told her. "Well, with the exception of Ed's bond with the Lions coming back in full force," Havoc added on, a little carelessly.

"The Lions are talking to you again?" Hawkeye asked Ed as she took her seat at her desk.

"Here you go, Captain. We grabbed you some lunch," Fuery said before Ed could answer her, handing her the container of food they had picked up for her.

"Thank you, Fuery," Hawkeye said, giving him a small smile as she accepted the food before looking at Ed, who was taking the opportunity to sort through his order.

"Yeah, they re-established the link yesterday when I went to go update Mustang on everything. It was a little painful but that might've been more because they were angry at me for getting hurt, like it's my fault Belmont decided to fight me." Ed scowled and everyone knew his words weren't for them. He rolled his eyes at something only he could hear before looking back at Hawkeye. "They want me to say that they're happy to see that you're okay," Ed dutifully passed along the message.

"Tell them 'thank you' from me, please," Hawkeye requested and Ed nodded. Hawkeye knew her message would likely have been heard by the Lions, since Ed would likely be letting them have enough access to his mind so that they could see and hear everything going on around him, but she also knew that Ed would pass her thanks on to them through the bond anyway. "How has everything in the office been going since my unplanned absence?" Hawkeye asked the group.

"All paperwork was caught up this morning and we've managed to sort through most of the files and whatnot from the two cases and pack them away to return them to the original investigators, Captain," Falman reported.

Hawkeye looked mildly surprised before looking suspicious, like Mustang had just told her he hadn't set any paperwork on fire, but she noted that there were no longer papers strewn all over the desks and notepads placed within easy reach of the person using it. In fact, most of the boxes from Brookes' office were neatly packed and stacked off to the side, out of the way. She saw her own journals were sitting innocently on one of the spare shelves, likely to make sure no one noticed them if they came into the office. She must've realised she was being told the truth since her suspicious expression disappeared.

"I expect the rest of the case files and such will be packed and returned to the original investigator by this afternoon," Hawkeye said and received nods from everyone, excluding the BAU, and she nodded once in satisfaction. "Very good. I look forward to having our office running normally soon," Hawkeye said and the corners of her mouth twitched upwards at the fervent nods she got from her team. The BAU didn't stop their amusement from showing on their faces.

* * *

The conversations devolved into chatter as everyone gathered around the desks focused more on their food and small talk. Ed met Al's eye close to the end of the meal and silently managed to convey that he wanted to talk to him privately in Mustang's inner office. Al looked confused but nodded and the two of them managed to slip into the office once they'd finished their lunch.

"What's wrong, brother?" Al asked the moment Ed had quietly closed the door behind him, taking a seat one of the couches.

"Nothing, Al. I just need to tell you about something I realised I'd managed to forget to tell you about," Ed said, still astonished at himself for forgetting to tell Al about something so important.

"Brother, you always forget to tell me something. Please don't tell me you managed to get yourself injured so soon," Al said, half-teasing and Ed huffed out a laugh as he rolled his eyes.

"No, nothing like that," Ed promised as he sat next to Al. "Look, I know Reid told you what he heard from either Hotch, Morgan or Havoc about what Mustang said to me when I told him about what happened to you and Captain Hawkeye and I am well-aware that Havoc is likely telling Captain Hawkeye what happened as we speak," Ed said and saw the way Al's features darkened slightly.

"He and I will be having a discussion about that," Al swore. "He had no right to say what he said to you and if he hasn't apologised already, I'll make him sorry," Al promised, fuming slightly. Ed placed his automail hand on the arm closest to him in a soothing gesture.

"That's actually what I want to talk to you about," Ed told him. "He's already apologised to me. Miss JJ and Havoc went to talk to him about whether Captain Hawkeye kept anything from her father that might help us while I was with you and Reid at the hospital and he asked them to ask me to go and speak to him alone." Al didn't say anything but he didn't look convinced that Mustang had offered a good enough apology so Ed continued talking. "Morgan went with me, though he waited at the sign-in desk, and I went to speak with Mustang. He apologised, Alphonse. Like a proper apology. I don't know where he managed to pull that from but he gave me a genuine apology." Al looked unsure now and Ed knew it was likely because he knew what Ed was like when it came to that kind of situation. He did have a tendency to play off the situation so people would think he wasn't affected by it and didn't require an apology.

"I'm glad he apologised to you, brother. You really didn't deserve to have him say what he did just because he couldn't control his emotions," Al said, patting him on his automail arm in a comforting way. "He deserved far more than the one punch, though." Al's eyes twinkled in amusement as Ed let out a surprised laugh.

"I'm a little surprised you're not lecturing me about hitting a superior officer," Ed admitted with a chuckle.

"Yes, well, Mustang was an asshole and he deserved it," Al sniffed. "Besides, he wasn't a superior officer at the time," Al pointed out and Ed nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, he wasn't. Felt good to hit him," Ed confessed. "Been wanting to do that for years," Ed smirked as Al rolled his eyes.

"Edward," Al said exasperatingly.

"There is something else though," Ed said, sobering up a little bit. Al noticed the change in his demeanor immediately and sat a little straighter. "After he apologised and I showed him Belmont's sketch to see if he knew her, I went to leave because I didn't really want to be around him. He stopped me from going, saying he still wanted to discuss something with me," Ed told him. "Al, he offered to teach me fire alchemy." Ed looked up to see his brother's reaction and almost laughed at the comically shocked look on Al's face.

"Seriously? What did you do?" Al asked when Ed nodded that it was true.

"I thought he was only offering to teach me so he could clear his own conscious about saying what he said and I told him to shove it because I didn't want to learn it if it was only being offered to me out of pity or whatever," Ed told him and Al nodded like he expected nothing less. "But then he told me that he truly wanted to teach me because he knew he could trust me with the secrets. He told me that Hawkeye would agree with him when he said that I was the perfect person to pass the secrets of flame alchemy to and I believed him, Al," Ed told him and Al resisted the urge to drag his brother into the biggest bear hug he could manage, mainly because he didn't want to injure his brother even more. He knew how much it meant to Ed to hear that from Mustang.

"So, he's going to teach you once he's been released?" Al asked and Ed nodded before screwing his face up a little.

"Actually, he's already started teaching me. We spent a couple of hours in his cell using the gloves you gave me and going over the basics so I could produce a flame. It actually came in handy against Belmont," Ed told him and Al raised a questioning brow. "When Belmont went to shoot Brookes and I got in the way, I used flame alchemy to stop her from doing anything else while Brookes and I got out of the basement," Ed explained and Al shook his head.

"How did you manage to forget to tell me that you were being taught flame alchemy and had used it against Belmont?" Al asked and Ed shrugged his right shoulder before grinning.

"Who knows?" He chuckled a little at himself.

"So, what happens now?" Al asked and Ed shrugged once more.

"Well, Grumman should've already pushed the paperwork for Mustang's release through so he should get out tomorrow sometime. I need to go to Resembool to get my automail checked on so that wrench-wielding witch doesn't kill me for not getting them looked at after the fight," Ed scowled as Al smothered his giggles. "We also have to escort Miss Gracia and Elysia back to Central now that Mustang will be released. That reminds me that we actually need to call them and Winry to let them know when we'll be there," Ed said, snapping his fingers suddenly. "But right now, I need to think of a way to get Mustang back for that bloody promotion. Wanna help?" Ed asked with a sharp grin on his face as he started contemplating things he could do. Al only needed a moment to think before his own sharp grin curled onto his face. It would be the best way for him to get a small amount of retribution for what was said to Edward.

"Definitely," Al grinned.

A/N - Here's chapter 24 for all you guys! Many thanks to my beta, PhoenixQueen, who worked hard to get me this chapter on time despite her busy schedule!

Now, excuse how blunt I'm about to be but I can't help but feel immensely upset and a little hurt that no one bothered to leave a review on the previous chapter. PhoenixQueen and I have worked hard on this story and the only way we know whether you guys are enjoying the story now that it's coming towards its end is if you leave a comment and review the chapter or story as a whole. I know a lot of you who are reading and/or favouriting this story still are authors yourself so you must know how great it is to get the email saying someone left a review on your current story or WIP. How that sometimes it's that one review that gives you the motivation to write and post the next chapter. I'm sure you're all sick of me saying it in the author's notes but I really do appreciate every single review any of my stories get so please leave me a review on this chapter?


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty Five**

A knock at the door about half an hour later had both teens immediately stop their revenge plotting and exchange a nervous look, since they both knew who was likely to be on the other side of the door. "Enter!" Ed eventually called as both he and Al tried to look as innocent as possible before Hawkeye entered the room. She took one look at their faces and gave them an unimpressed look.

"Captain Hawkeye, has something else happened?" Al asked, a little worried. She gave him a flat, neutral look that still held an amazing level of censure.

"Not unless you've done something to this office," Hawkeye said blandly after a long moment of staring them down. It was the same look that she gave Mustang when she was expressing her displeasure with his procrastination in completing his paperwork.

"Not yet," Ed told her, smirking a little. His smirk faded slightly as she turned that even stare on him – the one that said that despite her rank _she _was the one who ran the office. She kept her eyes on him for nearly a minute before her expression relaxed a little.

"As long as it doesn't cause irreparable harm to the office, any of the people or to the general's ability to do his paperwork for a long period of time, I don't need to know," Hawkeye said and both boys exchanged a grin. "Alphonse, I was hoping to speak with Edward in private, please?" Hawkeye asked. Al nodded and stood immediately.

"Of course, Captain. I'll be out with the others. Brother, be nice." Ed scowled at his brother's retreating back. He just knew his brother had rolled his eyes before he shut the door behind him. Hawkeye took a seat on the couch opposite the one Ed was now occupying by himself, the coffee table between them.

"What's up, Miss Riza?" Ed asked, feeling just a little worried now. He was used to Hawkeye's stern seriousness being leveled at Mustang, or even Havoc and Breda, but not at him.

"I wanted to talk to you about what you said about General Mustang teaching you flame alchemy. We didn't really have a lot of time when you first told me to talk about it." Hawkeye noticed the way Ed's face immediately fell before he managed to hide it. Despite his best efforts, Hawkeye could still see the worry and fear in his eyes. "I stand by everything I said in that basement," Hawkeye told him. She paused for a moment before she stood and moved from her couch to join Ed on the other one and placed her hand on his automail shoulder. "I meant every word I said; I trust you with my father's life work and I wouldn't have chosen anyone other than you to learn it."

Edward's expression relaxed some and he offered her a small, tentative smile, which she returned, before her expression turned solemn again. "But, Edward, I want to make sure you understand why I wasn't excited to hear about you being taught flame alchemy," Hawkeye assured him and noted her words didn't have the soothing effect she'd hoped for.

"Mustang told us – well, me, Morgan and Hotch, anyway – some of it. He told us about what your father did to you, with the tattoo and what you asked Mustang to do to it and why," Ed told her and Hawkeye felt a flash of annoyance at the fact that her boss – and friend – had shared one of her most personal secrets without her permission. But she never let that annoyance show on her face since she knew Edward would think she was annoyed at him.

"So you know that I never wanted anyone else to learn flame alchemy; that I thought it was far too dangerous to trust to anyone again?" she asked and Ed nodded, looking away from her for a moment. "That's true," she said. "You saw the way General Mustang lost control when we confronted Envy. How he almost sacrificed his humanity to kill that homunculus with my father's art, despite my best efforts to keep him from going over that cliff." Hawkeye recalled those minutes with a shiver of horror at how close she had been to keeping her promise to him.

"I remember," Ed said, voice low and a little uncertain, like he really wasn't sure where she was going with that.

"That is the main reason why I never wanted anyone else to learn flame alchemy. What General Mustang did in Ishval during the war, the destruction and death he wrought with a single snap was devastating, but he did so under orders. It wasn't his decision alone to do what he did there. It was horrible and I regretted showing him the tattoo many times when I witnessed him leveling buildings and people like they were nothing with one movement but we were following orders. That's why I never wholly placed blame on him for his actions there," Hawkeye told Ed, who nodded a little, understanding what she was saying. "It also helps to know that he regrets his actions during the way as much as I regret mine. However, Envy was another story. General Mustang allowed himself to become consumed with his rage and grief when he realised Envy was the one who killed Maes Hughes and he nearly lost sight of himself."

Edward remembered how scary it was to see Mustang like that, though he'd never admit that out loud. Scar had seen it too, and Edward was certain that was the reason why the Ishvalan had been willing to turn back, to try to pull Mustang back from the brink, when Scar had every reason in the world to hate him. There had been several moments where he had been certain that the three of them wouldn't be able to stop Mustang short of killing him, and if Mustang had truly given in and lost all control, they would have had to. With his command of flame alchemy, he was too dangerous to be allowed to go free if he had lost all of his iron-willed control.

"That's why you're worried about me learning flame alchemy?" Ed asked, sounding a little morose.

Hawkeye nodded. "Even you would admit, Edward, that you have an extreme protective streak when it comes to your loved ones and that your anger has a quick trigger," Hawkeye said gently. "I'm not saying that to criticize you in any way, but I need you to understand how dangerous that could make you if you do continue with these lessons. I'm worried that something could happen to Alphonse or Miss Rockbell or the Hughes' or any of the team. If it did, and you were to use flame alchemy in the spur of the moment, it would be devastating."

Ed shook his head as she spoke. "I wouldn't though, and I can say that for certain now that I've used it once against Belmont."

Hawkeye gave him a look of mild disbelief, but Edward tried not to be hurt by the skepticism.

"Even though I've always been curious to learn as much about alchemy as possible, and to learn as many arrays and different types of alchemy as I could, flame alchemy was never one of the ones I wanted to learn," he explained. "When I saw what Mustang could do with it, I realised how dangerous it could be. Given his reluctance to talk about it, it made me decide that I never wanted to learn how it worked, especially after the first time I was kidnapped about it." He gestured with his automail hand a little. "Using it against Belmont was the best way to cause a big enough distraction for me and Brookes to get out of that basement without her shooting at us again but I realised that I would only ever use it as a last resort."

Ed hadn't told anyone about how wrong it had felt using the glove and flame alchemy against Belmont. It had felt like he was breaking a taboo again, just much less dangerous. He smirked suddenly. "I think I prefer punching the problem repeatedly," he joked and Hawkeye allowed her amusement to show.

"Somehow, I am not surprised to hear that," Hawkeye said drily, causing Ed to chuckle, before she sobered again. "Edward, I meant it when I said I entrusted my father's work to you and I will not ask you or General Mustang to give up the flame alchemy lessons but I will ask one thing of you."

"Yes?" Ed was prepared to promise her just about anything so he could prove he was worthy of the trust she was placing in him.

"I want your word that you will never use flame alchemy unless you have absolutely no other choice. I want you to promise that you will ask Alphonse or someone you trust just as much to keep an eye on you when you _are_ using flame alchemy so they can help pull you back if you stray too far, like I did for General Mustang," Hawkeye beseeched him.

Ed was momentarily stunned. He had only ever seen Hawkeye beg once during the years he had known her and that was during the fight with Envy. While this was not on the same level as that, she certainly sounded like she was close to begging him and Ed found he did not like that.

"I promise, Captain. Outside of my lessons with Mustang, I won't use flame alchemy for anything unless I absolutely have no other choice and I will ask Alphonse to make sure I never abuse flame alchemy," Ed swore. Hawkeye held his gaze for a moment before nodding sharply once.

"Thank you, Edward. I know you will keep your promises. You have no idea how relieved I am now," Hawkeye said as she stood up. "I'll let Alphonse know he can come back in. I'm sure you have more plotting to do. Just remember what I said," Hawkeye said as Ed stood up.

"We will," Ed laughed but stopped when he noticed Hawkeye hadn't moved far from him. He was about to ask her what was wrong but then he was swept up into a hug by the captain. She was careful about how tightly she squeezed him and where her arms went exactly. Ed was quicker to return this hug, even if his return hug was one-armed.

"Thank you, Edward, for everything you've done the last few days," Hawkeye whispered before giving him a final squeeze and disentangling herself from him.

"You're welcome, Captain," Ed said, giving her a smile even though he still felt a little stunned by the whole thing. Not many people got two hugs from Hawkeye inside of two days. He watched as she left the office before sitting back down. Only moments later, Alphonse came back into the room.

"Is everything alright, Brother?" Al asked, once he'd shut the door. Ed gave him a genuine smile.

"Everything's fine. She just wanted to make sure I understood just how dangerous flame alchemy was and why she was hesitant back in the basement to tell me that she agreed with Mustang," Ed told him. "Actually, she also asked me to promise her something and part of it has to do with you," Ed said. Al's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Me?" he asked and Ed nodded.

"Yup," he said. "She wanted me to promise her that my flame alchemy would be a last resort. She doesn't want me using it outside of lessons with Mustang unless I have absolutely no other option. I told her I had no problem with that. Using it against Belmont that one time proved to me that I definitely prefer a more hands on approach to dealing with criminals." Al rolled his eyes as Ed mimed punching someone. Of course his brother would prefer that.

"What does that have to do with me though, Brother?" Al queried, not really seeing how he was involved in this.

"Well, she asked me to have someone I trusted watch out for me when I do use flame alchemy outside of lessons," Ed told him. "Do you remember what I told you about Mustang and Envy?" Al nodded. It wasn't exactly the kind of conversation you forgot. "Well, basically you would be Captain Hawkeye in that situation. I'd like you to promise me that if I ever make you think I'm losing myself that badly, you'll deal with me." Ed made sure to keep eye contact with his brother so he knew just how serious he was.

"Brother, I don't know if I can promise that," Al whispered and Ed almost winced in sympathy. He knew what he was asking Al was a lot. He was asking his only family to do whatever it took to make sure he didn't abuse his power, even if that meant killing him.

"Al, you know that if I ever get to that point, you would be the only person able to talk me down and if you can't," Ed trailed off for a moment, "if you can't talk me down than I obviously can't be talked down and I don't ever want to be so out of my mind that I kill innocent people," Ed told him, pleading a little for Al to understand it was hurting him to ask his little brother to promise this, "so I need to know that there will be someone I can trust to make sure I never do that and there is no one I trust more to know when there is no way for me to turn back than you," Ed said, hating the fact that he was the cause behind Al's watery eyes.

"Brother, I don't know if I _could_ make that kind of call," Al confessed and Ed nodded understandingly.

"I know I'm asking you to promise something I should never be asking you to promise. You don't have to give me an answer now. She didn't say I needed to have that promise from someone immediately so just think about it?" Ed asked, placing his hand on Al's and squeezing it gently.

"I promise," Al said quietly before pulling Ed into a hug and almost squeezing him tight enough to hurt. "I promise I'll think about it." Ed tightened his grip he had on his brother slightly before releasing him.

"That's all I want you to do right now," Ed assured him. "Take as long as you need to." Ed squeezed his arm one more time before sighing. "But, while you're thinking about that, we need to call Granny and Winry to tell them about everything that's happened and to make sure Winry will be in Resembool when we head back so she can check her precious automail for the slightest damage then hit me with her wrench for fighting," Ed scowled, sounding like he was someone facing certain death, which cause his brother to laugh.

"I'm sure she'll be nice to you when she sees how hurt you already are," Al said and Ed let out a disbelieving scoff.

"We _are_ talking about the same wrench-wielding witch, aren't we?" Ed asked sarcastically as he headed for Mustang's desk and private phone.

"Who are you planning on calling first, brother?" Al asked, ignoring Ed's last question. Ed paused for a moment to consider.

"Probably best to call Granny first. If we're lucky, something might've happened that prevented Winry from going to Rush Valley and she'll still be in Resembool," Ed said as he dialed the number to Pinako's home. He sat in Mustang's chair while Al leaned against his automail arm and both of them listened as the phone began to ring.

"_Rockbell Automail. This is Pinako." _Ed almost sighed in relief that it was Granny who answered the phone.

"Hey, Granny. It's Ed and Al," Ed said.

"Hey, Granny," Al greeted and they heard Granny sigh a little.

"_It's good to hear from you two. How is everything in Central?"_ Granny asked and Al nudged Ed to answer. Ed rolled his eyes at his younger brother but did as he was told.

"Everything's great," Ed said, honestly. "How's everything with you? Are Miss Gracia and Elysia alright?" Ed asked, wanting to know that before they got to why the brothers were actually calling.

"_They're both fine. Elysia has been keeping Den out of mischief and has been a big help in the kitchen with her mother. Gracia has had to help me with a few patients who needed an extra set of hands so she'll know a thing or two to help patch you up, Ed, when you refuse to see a doctor,"_ Granny said pointedly, causing Ed to roll his eyes, even though she couldn't see it.

"We're glad to hear that, Granny," Al said, stifling some giggles. "Is Winry still there?" he asked and Ed gave him a thumb up for doing so.

"_No, Winry left for Rush Valley the day after Ed left for Central,"_ Granny told them and Ed suppressed a groan. They were going to have to make two phone calls today after all. _"Now, as good as it's been to catch up, the two of you never call this soon after paying me a visit unless you need something." _Granny pointed out and Ed sighed a little. She was right.

"You remember those strangers I went to talk to after dropping Miss Gracia and Elysia off with you?" Granny hummed affirmatively and they heard her inhale deeply, presumably through her pipe. "Well, it turns out they were friends of mine and Mustang's from the first secret mission Führer Grumman sent us on," Ed told her. Granny and Winry knew the truth of what happened but Ed didn't trust these lines not to be tapped by someone.

"_That's interesting. Did you figure out why they were here in Amestris?"_ Granny asked, sounding nonchalant but Ed and Al weren't fooled.

"We aren't completely certain but we think it had something to do with Mustang being arrested. Al and I will tell you everything in much more detail in person but the main thing is that they were able to help us with the investigation and thanks to them, we found the real killer and Mustang will likely be released tomorrow," Ed told her and Granny gave a low, impressed whistle.

"_That's impressive, even for the two of you. Figuring out who the killer truly was after only five days when the military had months to do so? Well done, boys,"_ Granny praised them and it took everything in each of their willpowers to not squirm in joy at the praise. It took a lot to impress Granny enough to compliment someone.

"It wasn't just us, Granny," Al said.

"Yeah, we had a lot of help from the foreigners and from other people," Ed told her and she harrumphed lightly.

"_Yes, well I'm sure they wouldn't have solved the case as quickly as they did if they didn't have the two of you investigating alongside them,"_ Granny told them seriously. _"Now, I'm sure there's more you need to tell me, other than the fact that you got your boss out of prison, Ed, so what is it?"_ Granny asked and Ed and Al shared a grin. They could never get anything past the old woman.

"Well, we'd appreciate it if you could let Gracia and Elysia know what we just told you, for starters," Ed said.

"_I will let them know as soon as they get back from doing the shopping,"_ Granny promised. _"What's the other thing?"_

"Al and I will be heading back to Resembool the day after tomorrow to bring Miss Gracia and Elysia home now that Mustang will be released," Ed told her. "We will also have the six strangers with us and more than likely have Mustang and Miss Riza as well. Is there any way we can all stay with you for the night? I have a feeling that the strangers will likely be gone by the next morning," Ed asked and he heard Granny sigh once more.

"_There'll be ten of you, including you and your brother, yes?"_ Granny asked.

"Yep," Ed said. Granny started muttering to herself as she tried to think whether it would be possible.

"_I'm assuming you'll be getting your automail checked over while you're here, which will mean Winry will need somewhere to sleep," _Granny said and Ed winced. He'd actually forgotten about that.

"Uh, yeah. I got into a bit of a fight with the real killer and since I'm almost due for a check-up anyway, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone," Ed told her.

"_That's what I thought,"_ Granny said. _"It'll be a tight squeeze but Winry can sleep in my room while Gracia, Hawkeye and Elysia share. You boys and two others can sleep in your old room. Someone can sleep on the couch and the others will have to sleep in the patient's room, so long as we don't have any patients to deal with. If we do have a patient, they can sleep in the lounge room." _Ed and Al winced out the picture in their head as they visualised that.

"If it's going to be any kind of problem, Granny, some of us can book a hotel room," Al said but Granny tutted and cut their protests off.

"_If it's only for one night, we'll manage. If everyone is still there the next morning, then we might have to talk about fixing the sleeping arrangements,"_ Granny assured them. Her tone also told them they could try to argue but they'd get nowhere with her and both boys knew better than to try.

"As long as you're sure, Granny," Al said.

"We can stop by the shops in Resembool to buy some extra food if you want," Ed offered, knowing that Granny never shopped enough to feed fourteen people in one sitting. "Just tell us what you want us to grab."

"_Nonsense. I can go down to the shops myself. I know how often that train runs late and we can't risk you not arriving on time. You just leave it to me to sort the food out. I'm sure Winry will charge you more than enough for your check up to cover the cost of the food,"_ Granny told them and Ed could hear her smirk.

"That's because she's a –" Ed started to say but Al cut him off.

"Thanks heaps, Granny. Give us a call either at General Mustang's office or Miss Gracia's home if something happens," Al said, ignoring Ed's scowl at being interrupted.

"_I will do. You boys take care of yourselves, understand? I know you're definitely more injured than you're letting on, Edward, and I don't want either of you to come home with even more injuries,"_ Granny told them and Ed winced lightly. He hadn't even thought about telling her he was hurt and now he realised that he probably should.

"I'm alright, Granny. I'm in a sling but that's mainly to stop me from accidentally ripping stitches out and I have a small neck wound that's covered with a bandage but other than that, I'm fine," Ed tried his best to assure her but he could sense her disbelief over the end of the phone.

"_Well you best make sure that you don't come home with more injuries than those, you hear me?"_ Granny asked and Ed nodded before remembering she couldn't see him. He heard the Lions snigger in his head and realised he hadn't heard much from them since his and Al's discussion about playing a prank on Mustang began. He filed that away to ask about later.

"I hear you," Ed said.

"I'll do my best to keep him out of trouble, Granny," Al promised, causing Ed to roll his eyes once more.

"_You're just as likely to get in trouble as he is,"_ Granny groused before sighing. _"The two of you best be calling Winry now. She has a break near this time so she'll be able to talk with you a little longer. I'll see you in two days, boys. Keep yourselves safe." _They exchanged goodbyes and Ed hung up the phone before summoning the strength to call the next number.

"You know you have to, brother," Al pointed out and Ed groaned.

"I know, I know," Ed grumbled, dialling Garfiel's number and holding the phone so the both of them could hear it ring.

"_Garfiel's Automail. This is Garfiel speaking."_

"Hey, Garfiel. This is Edward and Alphonse Elric. We were wondering if we could speak with Winry, if she's available?" Ed asked.

"_Winry's on her break so it'll be no problem for her to talk with you. Please hold on while I transfer the call to the other phone and let her know you're on the line."_

"Thank you," Al said before they heard a click, telling them they'd been transferred. They did have to wait another couple of minutes before someone picked up. Ed and Al assumed it was because Garfiel had to actually walk to Winry's workshop to tell her.

"_Edward Elric, I swear that if you're calling me to tell me you broke my precious automail _again_, I will kill you myself!"_ Ed pulled the phone away from his and Al's ears as the sudden change in noise level had them wincing in pain.

"Would you relax, you harpy?!" Ed snapped. "I didn't break _my_ automail, thank you very much!" Al snatched the phone away from him completely before Winry could respond to that. Ed could still hear the conversation though since Al didn't move away from him.

"Winry, its Alphonse. Brother's telling the truth; he hasn't broken or damaged his automail," Al told her. Ed could actually hear her scoff.

"_Well, he never calls me for any other reason!"_ Winry grumbled.

"I know and I've been trying to get him to call more often but you know what Brother's like," Al said, wincing as Ed punched him lightly in the arm.

"_That's true. Why are you calling me now?"_ Winry asked, sounding much calmer.

"We're heading back to Resembool the day after tomorrow and Edward realised it's nearly time for his automail check-up so we were hoping you might be able to meet us in Resembool? If you can't take the time off, we can travel to Rush Valley but not for a few days. Brother and I have to go and see our doctor a couple of days after we get back from Resembool," Al explained to her.

"_Why are you and your brother going to see doctors, Alphonse Elric?!"_ Winry demanded, causing Al to wince. Ed grinned smugly, knowing it wasn't just him the witch did that too.

"I was attacked a couple of days ago and Brother fought against the person who framed General Mustang. Neither one of us were hurt severely but the doctor still wanted us to come in for a check-up a week after our release," Al told her and Ed heard her sigh.

"_Hold on while I go and talk to Garfiel. It shouldn't be a problem since I have a new set of automail I want Edward to test for me and he knows I'll be on the train the next day,"_ Winry told him before Ed heard a soft thud as Winry placed the phone on a nearby surface.

"Told you she would yell," Ed said smugly and Al rolled his eyes at him.

"She always yells at you," Al pointed out. "She's right, though. You really should try calling her and Granny more than just when you need something. They worry about us," Al said and Ed's grin disappeared.

"I know, Al. It's just hard calling them. I normally can't talk about my missions with them because some of them are classified and the others are ones that are dangerous and I don't want them to worry even more about us, especially now that you're not a nearly indestructible suit of armour," Ed told him and Al nodded in understanding.

"I know that, Brother, but will you still start trying to call them at least once a month?" Al asked and Ed sighed once more.

"I can promise I'll try," Ed compromised and Al nodded in acceptance.

"That's all we ask, Ed," Al said before his attention was grabbed by a noise on the phone line.

"_Garfiel's agreed to give me four days off, though if nothing happens with the new set of automail – which it shouldn't – I'll head back to Rush Valley the day after I fit them onto Ed,"_ Winry told him.

"That's great. Like I said before, we'll be catching the train to Resembool the day after tomorrow," Al told her and Winry hummed a confirmation on the other end of the line. "Will you thank Garfiel for us, please?" Al asked.

"_Of course I will, Al. I'll see you guys in a couple of days,"_ Winry said. _"Tell your brother I'll kill him if he damages my automail before then." _

"I will. See you soon, Winry," Al said before hanging up the phone and turned to his brother. "I'm sure you heard her, Ed. No breaking your automail," Al wagged a finger at him that Ed batted away.

"Shut up," Ed snapped without any heat, causing Al to laugh. "I suppose we should go out and tell the other's about the plan," Ed said, not making any move to get out of the chair.

"Yeah, we probably should," Al agreed even though he also showed no signs of moving.

"Or," Ed said, leaning forward, "I can tell you the idea I came up with while you were talking to Winry about how I can get Mustang back for promoting me," Ed told him and Al grinned.

"I think we should definitely do that first," Al agreed.

* * *

Hawkeye made her way down to the holding cells by herself. Once Edward and Alphonse had emerged from the inner office, trying to contain their trouble-making grins – which Hawkeye had ignored, trusting the two of them had listened to her warnings – she asked Ed for permission to go and pay Mustang a visit. She'd almost chuckled at the way Ed had jolted at her seeking permission; obviously he had forgotten he was technically still in charge. He'd given it but had hesitated when she said she wanted to go by herself.

She knew Ed was only worried that her injuries might flare up and cause her problems but she knew she would be able to get to the cells with no problems. Eventually, Ed had granted her request but only when she had promised that if she felt she wouldn't be able to get to the cells under her own power that she would find the nearest phone and call for assistance. It had rubbed her the wrong way to make that promise in front of the others since she didn't like admitting there was a possibility of her being weak but Ed had relaxed immensely when she'd done so and though she'd never admit it out loud, she would do a lot to make sure Edward didn't carry any more stress than he absolutely needed too.

"Captain Hawkeye, it's good to see you up and about," the soldier manning the sign-in desk greeted as he saluted.

"At ease, Sergeant. Thank you for your concern. I'm here to see General Mustang," Hawkeye informed him as she waved his salute away and the sergeant nodded, pushing the sign-in sheet towards her.

"Of course, Captain. Is it just you this visit?" He asked as he glanced at the entrance, like he expected Ed or someone else to walk through it.

"Yes, it's just me this visit," Hawkeye confirmed, handing the sheet back and surrendering her recovered weapons to the man.

"Very well. Please follow Sergeant Ryan to the cell in question, Captain," the sergeant requested, gesturing to the guard who had appeared to escort her.

"Thank you, Sergeant," Hawkeye said, dipping her head slightly before giving Ryan a nod to take the lead.

The walk down the corridor was spent in silence between the two soldiers, though some of the occupants in the other cells awaiting transfer to the prison jeered as they walked past. Both Hawkeye and Ryan paid them no mind. They finally arrived at the cell Mustang was sitting in and the man in question looked up in shock at seeing Hawkeye before schooling his expression. Hawkeye noted the bruise on the right side of Mustang's jaw and found her own jaw clenching tightly at the sight of the yellowing wound.

"Would you please unlock the cell so I can enter, Sergeant Ryan?" Hawkeye asked. Ryan did as he was asked before locking it behind Hawkeye when she entered. He'd heard the stories from his fellow soldiers about what the Fullmetal Alchemist had threatened when he'd been refused and no one was idiotic enough to deny the formidable Captain Hawkeye.

"It's good to see you, Captain Hawkeye. I'm glad you're alright," Mustang said, as soon as the guard had moved away to give them some privacy.

"Thank you, Sir. It's good to see you as well," Hawkeye told him honestly. Being in the holding cell for nearly a week hadn't done the normally well-maintained general any favours but all things considered, he didn't seem like he'd need anything more than a hot shower and some comfortable clothing to recover completely. She did note that his wrists were still rubbed red but he hadn't broken any skin thanks to the restraints so he wouldn't need any first-aid for them. "I see you've managed to gain an injury of your own, Sir," Hawkeye commented, gesturing to her own jaw and she saw genuine guilt and remorse flash in his eyes.

"Yes, I found myself on the receiving end of one of Fullmetal's fists. I assure you, Captain Hawkeye, that it was a well-deserved punch," Mustang told her, obviously unaware that she had already been told about what had transpired between him and Edward when the blonde had broken the news that she had been kidnapped.

"Oh, I am well aware, Sir," Hawkeye informed him, allowing her chilly disapproval to be heard in her voice. Mustang flinched slightly at her tone. "I imagine that you have already been made aware of how atrocious your words were by numerous sources and I am aware of the fact that you have apologised profusely and genuinely to Edward so I will save my breath on a lecture and merely express my hope that you have learned your lesson about allowing your fear and grief to get the best of you when confronted by upsetting news." Mustang looked both relieved and confused that he wasn't going to be told off by her.

"I assure you, Captain, I have learned my lesson and I will never allow myself to lash out as I did. To Fullmetal or anyone else, for that matter," Mustang promised and Hawkeye nodded in satisfaction.

"I am pleased to hear that, Sir," Hawkeye told him. "There was another reason for my presence here today. Two reasons, in fact. Have you heard anything about your case since Edward came to talk to you earlier today?" She asked.

"No, I haven't. Has something happened?" Mustang asked, standing a little more alert than he had been.

"Yes. Lieutenant Colonel Brookes has found sufficient evidence linking Major Belmont to the crimes you were charged with and he has found absolutely no evidence suggesting that you played any other role than as the scapegoat in her plans," Hawkeye told him. She didn't allow him the chance to ask the obvious. "You will not, however, be released until the paperwork Führer Grumman has expedited ordering your release has gone through the proper channels. He believes that will only take a day so it's very likely that by this time tomorrow, Sir, you will once again be a free man." Mustang looked relieved but also scoffed a little self-deprecatingly.

"I may be released but these accusations will stay with me for the remainder of my military career. You know as well as I do that innocent in the eyes of the law doesn't always mean innocent in the eyes of the public," Mustang reminded her and Hawkeye couldn't argue against that. They had seen a few examples in their military career of soldiers and civilians alike being falsely accused of something but never being able to fully recover from their name being dragged through the mud, despite being found innocent in the eyes of the law.

"That may be true, Sir, but I believe that once Belmont's trial is made public, the citizens will – for the main part – realise that you were an unfortunate victim of an insane woman's revenge plan, as was I," Hawkeye told him sincerely. "You will always have a portion of the public against you, as you know all too well, but I believe that the majority of the public opinion will be in your favour." Mustang gave her a grateful smirk, though she could see that he didn't believe her completely.

"Thank you for your words, Captain. I hope you'll be proven right," Mustang said. There were a few moments silence before the alchemist broke it once more. "What was your other reason for being here today?" he asked and Hawkeye locked gazes with him.

"Why did you offer to teach Edward flame alchemy without discussing it with me in the first place?" Hawkeye asked and Mustang raised a brow.

"Do you not trust him to hold the secrets of flame alchemy?" Mustang countered, avoiding her question for the moment.

"Of course I do. That is not what I asked though, General Mustang, and I would appreciate it if you didn't avoid my question," Hawkeye told him bluntly. "I didn't even know you were considering teaching his flame alchemy."

"Honestly, I wasn't. At least, I hadn't been seriously considering it," Mustang told her and she gave him a look that told him that that answer was not good enough. "I've been considering the idea ever since our second mission for the Führer. It's been nothing more than a fleeting thought that I've barely entertained the few times it's crossed my mind. However, after my first night locked in here, I realised there might be a very good chance I could facing a firing squad within a month. I came to the conclusion that I didn't want what I'd done with flame alchemy to be its legacy. I didn't want the history books to tell future generations that flame alchemy had only ever been used for destruction and near-genocide." Hawkeye looked a little stunned at this admission.

"But why Edward?" Hawkeye asked. "I trust Edward with my life and I am well aware that he is an alchemic genius and is one of the best-suited to being able to learn flame alchemy, let alone wield it but he's reckless and he is famous across the whole of Amestris for having a short fuse. Do not," Hawkeye held up her unbroken arm to cut off whatever Mustang had been about to say, "misunderstand me, General Mustang. I have given Edward my blessing for his lessons to continue and I have had him promise me that he is never to use flame alchemy outside of his lessons unless he has no other choice. He has also promised to find someone willing to make the same promise that I made you; someone who would be willing to make the final call if it becomes necessary. My guess is that it will be Alphonse." That surprised Mustang and he interrupted her before she could continue.

"What do you mean by you gave him your blessing?" Mustang asked and Hawkeye's gaze narrowed dangerously as being interrupted, making Mustang suddenly grateful the sign-in desk required all weapons to be handed over.

"I mean that I saw him wearing a pair of your gloves while he was destroying the ropes to free me from the basement and he explained that you were teaching him. He then told me that in no uncertain terms that if I didn't approve completely of this decision that he would hand the gloves over to me immediately and never learn flame alchemy. I knew he would do so and that my refusal to let him learn wouldn't affect our relationship but I decided to allow it," Hawkeye informed him and Mustang wasn't surprised to hear that. He knew Ed would have sought out Hawkeye's approval before he agreed to lessons outside of the one they'd already had, especially since Edward knew about Hawkeye's tattoo and the request she had made of Mustang and why. "What I wish to know, Sir, is why _you_ decided Edward was the one to entrust my father's life's work too," Hawkeye said, eyes telling him exactly what would happen if he tried to avoid answering this question.

"You're correct, of course, Captain Hawkeye," Mustang said. "Edward is reckless and short-tempered. He's brash, he doesn't usually think things through, he's likely to throw a punch before asking questions and sometimes, he's irresponsible." Hawkeye didn't look impressed with his defence for why he chose Edward so far. "_But_ he is also loyal, brave, has a brilliant strategic mind when he puts it to use and he is the one most likely to sacrifice himself for someone else. As you said, he is an alchemic genius but he is also a genius in the broadest definition," Mustang told her.

"I could have chosen Alphonse as he is everything I just said, just in different levels to Edward, however Alphonse hasn't seen my alchemy used against someone firsthand." Hawkeye opened her mouth, likely to disprove his point but he held a hand up to stop her and she obediently did as she was asked. "I know he witnessed me kill Lust but he hasn't been there as my flames killed a human. He hasn't made a call that he knew would lead to someone's death, like Edward did with Thomas Harding, and Alphonse has not taken a life himself, as Edward did with Hagger." Mustang still wasn't done.

"Edward has done all of those things and I trust him to never allow himself to be used as I was during the Ishvalen Civil War. You and I both know that Edward has never followed orders unless he wanted to and that those orders he hadn't wanted to follow he did in a way where he got the desired result without actually following the given orders. We also both know that he would never reveal the secrets of flame alchemy, even if he was being tortured." Both Hawkeye and Mustang took a moment to silently pray that that would never happen. "I trust Edward completely with my teachings. He has already promised to not tell Al anything about the lessons if I didn't allow him too and we both also know that Edward would die before he willingly broke a promise," Mustang told her before allowing silence to fall between the two of them while Hawkeye allowed herself to absorb everything Mustang had just said.

"Thank you for answering my question, General. As I already said, I have given Edward my blessing to learn flame alchemy from you. I do not harbour any doubts that he will prove anything other than being a quick study and I trust him completely to keep his word to me," Hawkeye told him and Mustang nodded in agreement.

"I imagine he will be a master of flame alchemy in less time than either of us think," Mustang said. "Is there anything else you wish to ask or report, Captain Hawkeye?" Mustang asked after a few moments of no one speaking.

"Edward and Alphonse have spoken to Pinako and Winry Rockbell and made arrangements to travel out to Resembool with the consultants in order to organise their route home and so that Miss Rockbell will be able to check over Edward's automail, as it is due for a check-up. They plan on leaving the day after tomorrow. They don't think the consultants will be staying more than a night at the Rockbell residence, based on what we know about their arrival in Amestris, so I believe they plan on leaving after Edward's check-up so they should only be gone for three days. Edward and Alphonse have also told me that Pinako Rockbell is prepared for the two of us to accompany them to Resembool, if we decide to," Hawkeye reported and Mustang was a little surprised that Edward was voluntarily allowing him to stay at his adopted grandmother's home while he and Al were there.

"Hopefully, I will be released by the time they're ready to leave. I would like the opportunity to say goodbye and thank you to the consultants without there being a set of bars in between us," Mustang said a little drily. Hawkeye looked a little sympathetic.

"As I said, Sir, hopefully you will be released by this time tomorrow," Hawkeye repeated and Mustang nodded. "I best be going, General Mustang. The office doesn't stop just because you aren't there," Hawkeye told him and Mustang smirked.

"Ah, yes, how _has_ Fullmetal been enjoying my job? Does he understand my plight with paperwork yet?" Mustang asked, almost grinning at the thought of Hawkeye telling him that Edward was struggling with the paperwork while leaving enough time to investigate.

"Actually, Edward has proven himself immensely capable of juggling paperwork and his other duties. Even while I was indisposed, he and the team managed to stay on top of it while searching for me and Belmont," Hawkeye told him. She neglected to mention the little fact that Führer Grumman had redirected as much of the paperwork as he could a couple of times, easing Ed's burden a bit. Hawkeye didn't believe that piece of information was important. Mustang scowled and Hawkeye held back an amused smile. Hopefully the general would be even more motivated to get his paperwork done in a timely manner, after being shown up by a teenager half his age. "If there isn't anything else, General Mustang, I best be getting back," Hawkeye repeated.

"Yes, of course. Hopefully the next time I see you, Captain Hawkeye, it will be this time tomorrow in my office," Mustang said, looking a little unsure whether that would actually happen.

"We hope so as well, Sir," Hawkeye said, saluting him for the first time today. Mustang waved the salute away and Hawkeye called for Sergeant Ryan to let her out. "Goodbye, Sir," Hawkeye said once the cell door was closed once more, leaving Mustang as the only occupant in the cell.

"Goodbye, Captain," Mustang said in return, watching his captain walk away from him before he sat heavily on his cot. His head spun with the knowledge that he could be out of this cell within the next day and for the first time in nearly a week, Mustang felt himself relax, knowing this nightmare may soon come to an end.

* * *

It didn't take Hawkeye long to get back to the office after collecting her weapons and signing herself out of the building. Her feet were aching and she knew she would need to sit down for a while to give them time to recover. Her doctor had warned her against staying on her feet for long periods of time and had wanted her on bed rest at night. She was looking forward to heading back to her apartment tonight. Rebecca had been delighted to hear she would be home tonight and after a small talk, she had agreed to stay with her so she could walk Hayate for her until she was fully recovered.

"Hey, Miss Riza," Ed greeted when she walked into the office. The blond alchemist looked relieved to see her, as did many of the other office occupants, and she felt warmth in her chest as she realised they had been worried for her. She did notice that there were a few of them missing.

"Hello, Edward," she said back as she took her seat. "Where are our missing team members?" She asked.

"Oh, Havoc and JJ are taking Lieutenant Colonel Granger's case files back to her and Falman, Morgan, Rossi and Fuery are taking Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' case files back to him. They should be back soon," Ed told her. "How'd your chat with Mustang go?" He asked curiously.

"It went well. I only needed to discuss a few things with him. He's aware of his impending release and the plans you've made to head to Resembool. Of course, it will be Führer Grumman's decision as to whether General Mustang and myself will be allowed to accompany you and the others to Resembool," Hawkeye told him and Ed nodded. He'd expected something like that. "What were your plans this afternoon, Edward?" Ed had not expected that however, and judging from their faces, none of those still in the office had expected the question either.

"Uh, kinda planned on hanging out here until knock-off time then maybe going out to one of the restaurants for dinner," Ed told her, sounding a little unsure. Had she asked because they'd already discussed doing something today and he'd forgotten? That did sound like him.

"Why don't you and Alphonse take the BAU agents on a tour of Central? They've only seen the base and a select few locations because of the case. The team and I can hold down the fort here while you're out," Hawkeye suggested and Ed and Al shared a stunned look. Ed could even feel the Lions' surprise. They may not have met Hawkeye in real life but they'd seen enough from Ed's memories and through his eyes that they knew her suggesting that Ed leave the office for nearly the whole afternoon to show people around was unheard of.

"Sure. If they want to go on a tour that is?" Ed looked at the BAU agents still in the room.

"I don't see why the others wouldn't want to," Hotch told him after exchanging a look with Reid and Prentiss, both of whom had shrugged or nodded.

"Alright. We'll wait for the others then head out," Ed said decisively. "Are you just going to go home once you've finished here for the day or did you guys want to join us for dinner?" Ed asked.

"I don't know about the others but I'll be going straight home. I promised Rebecca I would be and I'd like to see Black Hayate," Hawkeye told him. "Thank you for the offer though, Edward," she said, giving him a warm smile.

"You're welcome, Captain," Ed said, smiling back at her before looking at Breda. "What about you?" He asked but Breda shook his head.

"Sorry, big man, but I plan on catching up on my sleep tonight since the investigation is over now," Breda told him, a little apologetic.

"That's alright," Ed beamed at him. "I'll see if the others want to go but we'll see." Ed shrugged before leaning over into his brother's space and engaging him into a quiet conversation while they waited for the missing team members to arrive back in the office.

* * *

In the end, the other Amestrians – with the exception of Havoc – begged off the excursion. Hawkeye hadn't looked impressed when Havoc accepted the invite Ed gave him but when he mentioned that they would probably need a driver to get to various places around town, the disapproving glare disappeared. In fact, Hawkeye even called the office that supervised the assignment of military cars and drivers to book a car for Ed's use, though she did have to specify that there was no need for them to supply a driver. Once she was finished with that phone call, Ed, Al, Havoc and the BAU agents left the office with assurances that they'd be fine and that they would see the others bright and early in the morning. Hawkeye had called Ed and Al's names before they disappeared and told them in no uncertain terms that she would see the two of them bright and early _after_ they had spent the night at Gracia's.

The first place Ed and Al had decided to take them to was to the State Alchemists' Library. It had been rebuilt by order of the late Führer King Bradley shortly after Lust and Gluttony had destroyed in an attempt to stop the two brothers from learning the secrets of the Philosopher's Stone. It had taken almost two years for the library to be completely built and restocked with as many alchemic texts as the military could find or have donated to it. But even now it still wasn't fully stocked the way it had been before, and there were some texts that would probably never be able to be replaced.

"Wait, so if the building was destroyed to prevent you from finding Doctor Marcoh's research, how come you know about it?" JJ asked, interrupting Ed as he was telling them the story. Havoc had parked the car a short distance away, and they were now walking towards the huge, white stone building with its tall columns supporting the roof.

"That's actually how we met Miss Sheska," Ed told her, not at all annoyed by the interruption.

"You know that Miss Sheska has a photographic memory," Al said and the team nodded. "Well, when we arrived in Central after Ed had his arm fixed after our first scuffle with Scar, we arrived at the original First Branch with Major Armstrong only to discover it had been burned to the ground. We had thought we lost our only guaranteed chance of finding the information we needed on how to make our own Philosopher's Stone and that we would have to resort to hunting down every whispered rumour and obscure text to try and find it," Al told them and Ed took over.

"While we were coming to terms with that, Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh arrived on the scene to take over guard duty of us since I was still technically under protection because of Scar," Ed explained. "After Major Armstrong left to resume his own duties, Lieutenant Ross informed us of a woman she'd heard was an ex-employee of the library when she overheard us talking about the loss of information. When she offered to introduce us, we said yes and the two of them drove us to her home."

"When we entered her home, there were millions of books everywhere! All stacked in massive piles on every surface she could manage!" Al exclaimed and Morgan nudged Reid teasingly, causing the younger agent to roll his eyes. "We started walking carefully through the stacks of books, trying to find Miss Sheska when Ed and I heard something. When we listened carefully, we realised we were hearing someone calling for help from under a collapsed pile of books. Once we rescued them, we realised it was Miss Sheska," Al told them.

"_I'm surprised that hasn't happened to you or your brother yet,"_ Yellow commented, causing the other Lions to laugh at Ed's indignation so the blond retaliated by mentally sticking his tongue out at them.

"_Mature,"_ Black said flatly and Ed rolled his eyes before picking up the story once more.

"After we managed to get her to stop thanking us every couple of words, we asked whether she remembered seeing any research belong to a Doctor Timothy Marcoh in the library. She told us that she had recalled seeing them and said that it stuck in her mind more than it ordinarily would have because they were handwritten notes hidden amongst printed texts," Ed said, having taken over the story again. "We almost walked out of her place after that, since she had just confirmed that the notes had burned along with the rest of the library but then she asked if we would like her to tell us what was in the notes. That's when she explained to us her photographic memory. I hired her to write out the notes exactly as she remembered them so that Al and I could study them and she was happy to help," Ed went on to say.

"It took her a few days but she finely managed to write them all out for us and we headed to the base to study the notes. They were coded so first we had to crack the code, which took us ten days, but before we managed that, Miss Sheska came to visit us to thank us. She had used the money Ed had paid her to move her mother into a better and more comfortable hospital and she wanted us to know how grateful she was," Al told them.

"Is that why she thought she owes you and Edward?" JJ asked, recalling what Sheska had said when the BAU first met the bespectacled woman.

"No," Ed answered before Al could. "While Miss Sheska was talking with us when we were in the middle on cracking Marcoh's code, Hughes turned up. He'd apparently decided to pay us a visit and see how we were going with the code." No one missed the way Ed's voice hitched when he said Hughes' name but they didn't say anything. "He was lamenting about how Investigations had suffered a major loss when the library burned as the majority of their case files were stored in there. I asked Miss Sheska if she'd ever read them and she told us she'd read them all and remembered every word in them. Hughes hired her on the spot as his secretary so she could rewrite the case files. Miss Sheska is still under the impression that she owes Al and I for Hughes hiring her," Ed finished telling them the story.

"You know, it's still creepy when the two of you two that, right?" Morgan asked, gesturing to the two brothers and causing everyone to laugh at him. Even the Lions were chuckling in Ed's head.

"Our goal in life is to creep you out," Ed told him with a grin that had Morgan rolling his eyes at the blonde.

"Can we go inside for a few minutes?" Reid asked, looking longingly at the building. "After everything you've said about this library, I really want to see what's inside."

Edward hesitated. "Technically, access is only supposed to be for State Alchemists," he replied. "Even Al had to be granted a special pass by Führer Grumman because the soldier guarding the library had forbidden him entry the first time we tried to go inside after he was released from hospital." He considered for a moment longer. "I can probably get you a quick look inside, but we won't be able to go any further than the door."

"Cruel and unusual punishment, Ed. What did Reid do to deserve that kind of treatment?" Morgan teased, reaching out to ruffle Edward's hair, but Edward was used to Morgan attempting that and managed to dance awkwardly out of the way despite his leg injury.

"Reid, you want to look?" Ed asked, and Reid nodded eagerly.

"We'll wait here, Ed," Hotch said. "Reid's the one dying to see the inside of the library, and we don't want you to get in trouble for letting us in without a pass."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Go on and give Reid a look before he explodes from anticipation," Hotch said with a smile.

Ed nodded and he and Reid headed up the stairs towards the front door. He pulled out his watch and showed it to the officer standing at the door. "Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. We're just going to step inside the doors. My friend just wants a quick look inside."

The guard hesitated for a moment. "Sir, I'm technically not supposed to allow anyone but State Alchemists inside..."

"I promise, we'll be out in five minutes, and we won't go past the inner doors," Ed swore, and the guard finally nodded.

"Five minutes, sir," the guard agreed, before he opened the door, allowing Ed and Reid past him.

They stopped just inside the doors, as Edward had promised they would. Reid looked around with awe. The building was huge, and there were rows and rows of shelves filled with books, all bound with covers of different colours. The walls were lined with more bookshelves that stretched from floor to ceiling – two full floors of them in fact.

"All of these are related to alchemy?" Reid asked.

"A good percentage of them," Edward agreed. "Others are related to chemistry, biology, history...and then there are military records, population studies... any information that a State Alchemist might need can be found here. But this collection still isn't as good as the original library had. A lot of those books were one of a kind, and won't ever be able to be replaced."

Reid sighed. "That's horrible. I wish we could get closer though."

"Sorry, Reid," Ed apologised, feeling a little guilty. "Come on, we need to rejoin the others. We don't want to keep them waiting and we did promise the guard it would just be a quick look."

"Okay," Reid said, after taking one last long look around the building before he turned and followed Edward out of the building and down to where the rest of the BAU were standing with Al and Havoc.

"Where to next, chief?" Havoc asked and Ed thought for a moment.

"Let's go see the new crime lab," Ed said decisively. Havoc nodded in agreement and they all headed back to the car. Morgan jokingly dragged Reid along; despite his eye roll the younger agent let him do so with only a token protest. The others chuckled at their antics as they climbed back into the car and soon were heading to their next destination.

"So, how come you decided to show us this place?" Prentiss asked after a few minutes of mindless chatter, causing Ed to turn around in his seat next to Havoc to answer.

"Well, I've been wanting to come down here and check on their progress for ages but also to show you where Al and I first came face to face with the homunculi, if you don't count Führer Bradley since we didn't know he was one until much later, and first learned about the plot against us and the whole of Amestris," Ed told her.

"We're here, chief," Havoc announced as he pulled up alongside the curb.

Ed glanced at the building as he climbed out of the car, holding the door open so Al could slip out next to him. Both the lab and the prison beside it had been destroyed or damaged after his fight with Lust and Envy. Thankfully, none of the prisoners had been able to escape when the jail was damaged but all of the prisoners had been relocated to other prisons in Central. A few had even been sent to prisons in West and East city once the other prisons ran out of room.

What had remained of the Fifth Laboratory had been bulldozed and the debris cleared. After a large debate, Bradley had declared that there weren't enough funds to rebuild the lab or fix the prison and had ordered the site to be cleared and the prison closed until the funds for reconstruction could be found. The Promised Day had happened before the site could be dealt with but Grumman had ordered the prison to be torn down, redesigned and rebuilt so that any routes that they hadn't uncovered that had linked the prison to the laboratory would be destroyed. Construction on the new crime lab had begun once construction on the new prison had started.

The prison itself had been finished and was only waiting for the final checks and approval before it could be opened and used once more. The new crime lab's construction had taken far longer since there was far more to be built for it than the prison. Ed and the others couldn't see anyone working on the outside of it so Ed was under the impression that all the work they needed to do now was the interior stuff, like installing the equipment for crime technicians and whatnot.

"So, what was the story here?" Hotch asked and both Ed and Al chuckled a little.

"After we cracked the code in Marcoh's notes and uncovered the key ingredient we would need to make a Philosopher's Stone, Ross and Brosh escorted us back to our hotel room. We told them what that ingredient was but asked them to keep it themselves. Major Armstrong managed to get it out of them and he barged into our hotel room to talk with us," Ed told them, shuddering a little at the memory. "He actually helped us figure out where they could possibly be running the experiments without anyone knowing about it. He then warned us not to do anything and leave it to him to investigate. Naturally, we snuck out of the hotel room that night and headed for the lab."

"_Why are we not surprised?"_ Blue asked resignedly as the other Lions laughed in his head.

"Of course you did," Hotch said, completely unsurprised by what Ed had just told them. The rest of the BAU chuckled but then urged Ed on to tell them the rest.

"Immediately, we were suspicious. Armstrong had told us that the lab had been declared structurally unsound and therefore wasn't in use but there was a guard stationed at the front entrance and every other entrance was boarded up. Al and I managed to get over the barbed wall without using alchemy and went to investigate our options on how we could get inside," Ed told them. Havoc, having already heard this story, was leaning against the car and enjoying a cigarette. "Finally, Al and I came to the conclusion that we couldn't alchemise our way in because the light and sound of the transmutation would attract the guard out front and that there was no way that we could rip the boards off the door without the guard hearing so the only other way was through the vent next to the door. Al was too big to fit in there so I had to go in by myself, which is why he didn't face the homunculi with me," Ed continued saying but stopped when he saw the confused looks on the BAU's faces, the only exception being Reid. Havoc and Al looked shocked and Ed replayed what he'd just said in his head before paling considerably.

"It's okay, Brother," Al soothed as soon as he realised Ed had realised what he'd said.

"_You're alright, Ed. It's okay,"_ Green soothed. The other Lions sent calming feelings down through their bond and Ed tried to let the feeling help.

"What do you mean Al was too big? He's barely bigger than you in any form," Morgan asked, chuckling a little.

"Leave it, Morgan," Reid hissed before shooting Ed a worried look. Al stepped forward and quickly blocked his brother from the view of the agents and started walking Ed a small distance away from the group. Havoc had looked like he wanted to follow but was holding himself back to give the two some privacy.

"Sorry, Al," Ed whispered once he got over his shock. The Lions were still doing their best and trying to act as a balm for his inner thoughts, which were in a state of uncontrolled panic.

"You don't need to apologise, Brother. I understand," Al said soothingly. They stood in silence for a few moments before Al decided to ask something. "Reid didn't look confused like the others did at what you said. Why didn't he?"

"After he and I left you when we got the sketch, we headed straight for Captain Hawkeye's apartment to collect her father's personal journals," Ed told him and Al nodded. He already knew this. "Well, while we were in there after Miss Rebecca left, he asked me whether I lost my arm and leg doing what we did. He'd put several small things I'd said and done together and figured it out so I told him everything that had happened that night," Ed confessed. Al inhaled sharply and Ed winced. "I know I should've talked to you about telling him first but I –" Al cut his brother off quickly before his rambling could get any worse.

"No, Brother, I'm not mad you told him. I'm actually glad you did," Al revealed and Ed looked at him like he'd grown two heads, causing Al to chuckle. "Ed, you've only known those people for a few months. You've spent a grand total of a fortnight together, if that. It took you years to consider telling the team about the truth behind our injuries and you spent far more time with them," Al told him and Ed still looked confused about why his telling Reid was a good thing. "Brother, it means you're starting to trust more and more people outside of the team, me, Granny and Winry, and that's a good thing! I don't mind if Reid or any of them know because if you can tell them about _that_ then it means you trust them," Al explained and Ed looked a little shocked. His younger brother was right, of course, but he'd never realised that himself.

Thinking about it now, he knew he trusted the BAU agents as much as he trusted his own team. Their first meeting may have had Ed and Mustang at the wrong end of six weapons but slowly but surely, that initial distrust had melted and changed into friendship. His feelings about the BAU agents had been solidified when he'd called them after being taken in by the NCIS team and they'd immediately dropped everything to drive from their headquarters to the NCIS one just to see him again and make sure he was alright. He felt the Lions mentally shake their heads at how long it had taken him to make that realisation.

"I can't tell them," Ed said. Al sighed a little, like he'd expected that answer.

"Ed, if you're holding back from them because you think I won't agree, you're wrong," Al told him before realising Ed was shaking his head.

"No, I – I think I _want_ to tell them but I can't tell them here," Ed said, glancing around them. "I can't tell them the truth where anyone can overhear us and I can't tell them now. It was easier telling Reid because we were the only ones there and I didn't really plan on telling him but now that I'm even considering telling the others, I need time to – I just need some time," Ed whispered, looking down at the ground in shame and frustration.

"Brother, you know no one – especially me – is gonna be upset with you if you don't end up telling them about what happened or even if you just ask Reid to tell the others when they go back to America. I know how hard it is for you to talk about that night with me or with Winry or anyone else for that matter. I hate talking about that night as well but maybe it would be good for you – for us – to start opening up about it to more people we trust," Al said. "The people who already know are people we trust, and you know that Führer Grumman won't prosecute us for what we did. The threat from the homunculi is over, and what we went through could be a good lesson for someone else." Ed sighed deeply.

"_Al's right, you know,"_ Black told him. _"You managed to tell me and Shiro after only a few days, and unknowingly tell my sisters as well, and I can't tell you how honoured Shiro and I were to know that you trusted us enough to let us in so much that you could tell us about that night, and your other nightmares. If you think you can trust the other BAU agents as much as you trust Reid, myself and Shiro, then you should tell them but there is no shame if you can't tell them while they're here. It's always possible that you'll see them again so you could tell them then,"_ Black pointed out and Ed felt the other Lions agree with her.

"Maybe," Ed said in answer to both Black and Alphonse, still uncertain but he shook his head to clear it of those thoughts. "Come on, we should go back over there before they worry even more about us," Ed said, jerking his chin towards the group. Al gave him a look that had Ed rolling his eyes a little. "I'll think about it, I promise," Ed said and Al seemed slightly mollified by that.

"Alright, let's head back then," Al said, nodding. Soon enough, both boys were back with the main group.

"Ed, we didn't mean to upset you," Morgan said as soon as the boys were close enough but Ed shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't know that asking that would upset me so don't worry about it," Ed said, giving them a smile. None of the five agents who looked convinced that they shouldn't be worried but they let it go for now.

"What happened after you went through the vent, Ed?" JJ asked, hoping to get them off the topic of Ed's almost-freak out.

"Right," Ed said, clearing his throat a little before continuing, "so I crawled through the vent until I found an opening inside and dropped down from it and that's when I realised that there lights on, running along the bottom of the corridor walls, which told me immediately that this laboratory wasn't as abandoned as everyone was led to believe," Ed told them. "Al can tell you what happened to him outside after I tell you what happened to me inside," Ed said, figuring there would be questions about that shortly.

"Alright," Hotch said in agreement, obviously having wanted to ask about that at some point.

"I followed the lights down a random hallway and found a massive room with an array drawn right in the middle of it. Before I could study it properly, I was attacked. The people who had been studying the array and making the stones had also been experimenting with another transmutation that should've been impossible, unless, of course, you had a stone," Ed huffed a little. "They started bonding souls of renowned serial killers to suits of armour to create near indestructible fighters. Their only weakness was a blood seal hidden somewhere in their armour that if damaged, even slightly, would destroy the soul bound to the armour." Ed wasn't surprised that Reid was unsurprised but he was shocked when Hotch, Rossi and Prentiss were also unsurprised before he remembered Lieutenant Ross had told them about the Fifth Laboratory incident before they'd interviewed Grumman, meaning JJ and Morgan were the only ones to look completely horrified at what Ed had said.

"They bound human souls to armour?" JJ whispered and Ed nodded.

"The armour I fought was actually two souls. One was bonded to the body of the armour and the other to the helmet. I didn't know this of course, so when I managed to separate the helmet from the rest of it, I thought I had won the fight. Of course, I didn't and had to fight the second soul. I ended up winning by deconstructing part of his armour so it couldn't support itself but I was badly hurt by that stage. The souls – a pair of brothers who were known as the 'Slicer Brothers' – were going to tell me everything but their seals were destroyed by the homunculi, Lust and Envy," Ed told them. "I found out Al and I were sacrifices then but I couldn't do anything. I tried to fight Envy but he had the distinct advantage of not being injured and being able to heal himself from any injury with the stone that was his life force. They knocked me out and from what I was told later, Envy blew up the building before getting me back to Al. I woke up in hospital after that," Ed told them, before looking at Al to tell his story.

"After Brother left me to stand guard, I was alone for maybe five minutes before I was attacked myself," Al revealed. "Another soul bonded to armour had been on the roof and confronted me. This soul belonged to a serial killer who was known as 'Barry the Butcher' and he was very upset that I'd never heard of him," Al chuckled at the memory. "The noise from our initial confrontation drew the attention of the guard and he was killed before I could do anything to save him," Al sounded upset but continued talking before anyone could say anything. "Barry and I fought almost the entire time Edward was inside the building. He tried to psych me out, by saying things that he thought would undermine my trust and confidence in Brother but then Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh were there. The Lieutenant fired a shot at Barry but before we could do anything else, the building exploded. Barry escaped in the confusion but he was caught later on. We didn't know who he was at the time, but Envy brought Ed of the building before it managed to collapse completely and we took him straight to the hospital. We only found out Envy was a homunculus when Ed woke up and told us what happened," Al finished talking at that point.

"You two don't do things by halves, do you?" Morgan asked, shaking his head a little.

"Not really, no," Ed told him as the Lions sent their own assent with the agent's statement.

"So, if this is the new crime lab but had been the fifth laboratory, what's going to be built where the old crime lab used to be?" Prentiss asked and Ed thought for a moment as he tried to remember.

"Didn't Führer Grumman say it was going to be another lab but it was going to be dedicated to advancing our technology rather than researching alchemy or being a crime lab?" Al asked and Ed nodded.

"That's right. After my first visit to your country, I told Grumman all about it so he decided that rather than make the old crime lab another alchemic research lab, he would have it built to be solely dedicated to furthering our everyday things, like cameras and cars," Ed told them. "It's the first laboratory built that won't have anything to do with alchemy research. It is likely that alchemy will be used to see if it could help the scientists with their experiments but alchemy won't be the focus," Ed divulged. He remembered how stunned the people of Central had been when Grumman had announced that.

"Garcia would've loved to give them some suggestions on how to improve your technology," Prentiss said and Ed chuckled a little.

"I think Miss Penelope might be a bit _too_ advanced for them right now," Ed told them, causing the BAU to grin amusedly.

"Yeah, you're probably right there. Maybe next time we visit, you'll be advanced enough to warrant her coming with," Morgan said and Ed nodded.

"Hopefully. It would be nice to see her again," Ed said, mood falling a little, despite the Lions best efforts at stopping it from doing so.

"She misses you too. She was very upset when Truth told her she wouldn't be going with us," JJ told Ed, placing a comforting hand on his arm.

"Though hopefully the next time you lot wind up here, one of us won't be being framed by a nutcase and likely to face a firing squad," Havoc said, only half-joking, but it was enough to break the almost sombre mood that had threaten to overtake the group completely.

"Yes, that would be nice if that didn't happen," Rossi agreed.

"All done here, chief?" Havoc asked and Ed nodded before checking the time on his pocket watch.

"Probably would be best if we went to the shops now before dinner. That way we're not rushing around to beat closing times," Ed told them. Everyone seemed to be in agreement so they headed back to the cars.

None of the BAU had forgotten Ed's slight panic but they also knew that if they pressured him into telling them what had caused it than not only would they get nowhere but they would likely lose a lot of the trust the blond had in them and none of them wanted that. By mutual silent agreement, none of them decided to mention anything about it during the drive, content with listening to the chatter/banter between the three Amestrians that the Americans were sometimes drawn into.

* * *

They spent nearly three hours shopping in the busy city centre before the majority of the group declared that they were hungry. After a small but heated debate about where to get dinner, they settled on a pub that Ed and Al had only been to once before but that Havoc was a regular patron at. The lieutenant had sworn up and down that they had the best hot chips in the city and that their chicken parmigiana was unbelievably good.

Ed and Al were content to leave Havoc in charge of escorting the group to the restaurant, following dutifully behind him and joking with the BAU as they walked. Ed and Al had both quietly agreed that they were immensely grateful that Winry wasn't in Central with them because shopping with her was just as exhausting as shopping with JJ and Emily had been but the three women together would've been a force to be reckoned with. The Lions had roared with laughter when Al made the comment that they likely wouldn't have survived the three women and Ed had wholeheartedly agreed with him.

Each person on the team was carrying at least one shoulder bag or something similar filled with purchases Edward had made for them. Reid's was by far the biggest but that was mainly because it was filled almost completely with books he'd bought from the three bookstores they'd visited. Morgan and Prentiss had teased him about his reaction to the first bookstore but JJ had levelled them with a reprimanding glare that had them stop their teasing.

Prentiss and JJ had banded together to put a small bag together for Garcia but they did have some trouble finding things they thought the blonde technical analyst would like. In the end, they bought her some clothes that would fit in well with her quirky style and small things like jewellery, hair accessories and ornaments they thought she'd like. Reid had shyly handed them a couple of books he thought Garcia would enjoy for their inspection and both women had given him a massive grin before adding them their purchases.

Hotch had bought a few things but Ed couldn't help but notice that most of it was for a young child and when he asked, Hotch had revealed that he had a young son, Jack, and apologising to Ed when the blond had looked shocked and the older agent had realised it was because he had never mentioned him to Ed. Ed had waved off his apologies and asked for stories about him instead, which Hotch was happy to supply while they were walking to the next shop.

Rossi had bought himself a few cookbooks, which was how Ed found out about Rossi's love of cooking, as well as some fancier clothing than what he was wearing now. Rossi almost hadn't bought the suits because he didn't want them crumpled in the bag but Morgan had reminded him that there was such a thing as a drycleaner. Rossi had appreciated the reminder but not the eye roll that had accompanied it.

Morgan hadn't bought a lot for himself since a lot of the things he normally did buy didn't have an Amestrian equivalent but he did decide to buy some small gifts for his mother and sisters in Chicago. When prompted, Morgan had regaled Ed with as many stories about his childhood as he could think of before making a silent plea that Ed never meet his sisters when he realised a lot of his stories would embarrass them and they'd likely kill him if they ever found out he'd told someone about them.

Ed and Al were so busy talking with the BAU that they never noticed where they were until Ed happened to look around to figure it out. He almost stopped in shock when he realised they were near where Hughes had been murdered. When Al noticed his brother's slight hesitation, he went to ask what was wrong but he figured it out before he did so. Both Elrics had avoided this area like the plague when they found out this was where Envy had killed him.

"What's wrong, boys?" JJ asked when she noticed their sombre expressions.

"Hughes was killed near here," Ed told her, shocking everyone with his revelation. They didn't say anything else on the subject but Havoc did pick up the pace a little to get them out of the park quicker.

When they finally reached the pub Havoc had suggested, Ed and Al's spirits had picked back up to where they had been before they realised where they'd been in the park, mainly thanks to Morgan starting a competition about who could tell the most embarrassing work-related stories about another person. Al had had to stop them from getting too rowdy so they wouldn't get into trouble before they'd even had dinner.

They'd finally managed to get inside the pub and place their orders before being escorted to a table big enough for all of them to sit at with a reassurance from their waitress that their food wouldn't take too long to come out. Ed and Havoc were footing the bill and had informed the agents that they didn't mind because it was very likely they would be going out tomorrow for dinner to celebrate Mustang's release and already had plans on making the man foot the entire bill, claiming he owed them for getting his arse out of prison. Al had rolled his eyes at his brother and Havoc but any argument he was going to make was lost when their drinks were delivered and soon they were passing the time with good food and good company.

* * *

Rather than remaining in the office as she normally would've when Breda, Fuery and Falman bid her a good night, Hawkeye joined them in leaving since she didn't have anything in the office she needed to do. Edward and the team had made certain that there would be nothing in the office left for her unless she was the only one who could do it. There hadn't been much like that so she was well and truly able to go home with the others at their usual knock-off time.

Falman had offered to drive her to her apartment and her first instinct was to say no as the older man didn't live near her and it didn't take that long for her to reach her home on foot but she eventually accepted the offer since she had promised her doctor that she would stay off her feet as much as she possibly could. The drive was done in silence and Hawkeye found herself in front of her building in nearly no time. Thanking Falman, she climbed out of the car and headed up the numerous flights of stairs before finally coming to a stop outside of her apartment.

"Riza!" Rebecca exclaimed, launching herself at her best friend when Hawkeye walked through the door. The blonde barely had the time to prepare herself for the force Rebecca would hit her with so they wouldn't go crashing to the ground when she nearly tackled her. "I'm so happy you're alright!" Rebecca was close to tears and Hawkeye found herself blinking back a couple as she returned the hug with equal ferocity.

Hawkeye had heard the familiar scrabble of nails on her wooden floor the moment she had entered her home but Rebecca had managed to reach her first. As she hugged Rebecca closely, she felt a familiar set of paws on her leg as Hayate tried to get her attention. When Rebecca finally released her from her bear hug, Hawkeye knelt down and Hayate sat, though the small black-and-white dog was nearly vibrating in his efforts to stay still as he had been trained.

"Good boy, Hayate," Hawkeye said and with that, Hayate barrelled into her arms and she squeezed him almost as tightly as she had Rebecca. Looking up at Rebecca, she smiled. "It's good to be home."

A/N - Here is chapter 25 all done and dusted for you all. As always, I'll start this A/N with a massive thank you to PhoenixQueen, who had once again done a phenomenal job revising this chapter for me to share with you all.

I also want to thank every single person who left a review on the previous chapter. The amount I got was almost overwhelming and both PhoenixQueen and I appreciated and loved every single one of them. You guys honestly almost made me cry with some of them with how nice they were.

The was a guest reviewer, Yoyoman, who I can't private message in response to their review so I'll take the opportunity to do so here. I'm glad you love how long my chapters are though I am saddened to hear you don't like the Lions being in this story, as minimal as they are in it, but there is a reason for that and it's because I'm planning a sequel to my Voltron/FMA story and I needed Ed to keep his bond for that so I hope that helps a little. I'm glad you hate Widdon and Combes so much. While it won't be revealed why exactly they hate Mustang so much they wanted him kept in jail in this story, I do plan on it being revealed in my next Voltron/FMA story but to answer your question, it is a mix of they hate him that much and there is something else going on but they weren't trying to protect Belmont. I actually did notice when I reread my stories that I do have the tendency to repeat myself by having Ed or someone repeat what had happened earlier in the chapter in detail several times to other characters so I am trying to get myself out of the habit. I hope that you'll notice the difference with any of my new stories or Spirit Animals newest chapters once they're posted. Also, Ed is single. I tried my hand at romance and I'm no good at it so I haven't written him in a relationship. Also, I personally don't ship Ed and Winry so if I had written Ed in a relationship, it wouldn't have been with her anyway. Thank you for everything you said about my story! I really appreciate the thorough feedback you gave as it will help me better my writing in the future so thanks for that :) I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

Thank you once more to everyone else who left a review! I hope to see comments about what you thought to this chapter :) See you next week!


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

Ed and Al kept their promise to Hawkeye about going back to Gracia's to get some sleep after they finished eating with the BAU and Havoc. The dinner had lasted a couple of hours and by the time they'd finished their desserts, they still hadn't run out of things to chatter about. Even though the BAU had shared a lot of stories with Edward while they had all been together in America, both in New York and Washington D.C. with NCIS, they still managed to tell stories about cases that Ed hadn't heard before.

Havoc, Ed and Al had entertained them with their fair share of stories from missions they'd been on to dating fails of Havoc's to stories about some of the assignments Mustang and the rest of the team had been on prior to the Promised Day that Ed listened to with far more enthusiasm than what Al thought was warranted. Havoc told these stories with an almost manic glee when he realised Ed was listening with the intent to use the stories as potential blackmail or teasing material against Mustang. Alphonse resigned himself to probably being an only child in the near future when Mustang eventually snapped.

"We could just walk from the base, you know," Ed said as they left the restaurant. "It's not that far to walk to get to Miss Gracia's," Ed told them as they gathered around the car.

"Plus, you won't have to go out of your way just to drop us off," Al added but Havoc shook his head.

"It's not that far out of the way and I'd prefer to be able to honestly back you up when Captain Hawkeye asks if you went back to the Hughes'," Havoc informed him, causing Ed to scoff but the blond lieutenant either didn't notice or didn't care.

"We know how much trouble the two of you manage to find when you're by yourselves in public," JJ said. "I know it would certainly make me feel better if we knew you got back home safely so please let Havoc drive you home?" JJ pleaded and Ed felt his resolve crumble. It was Al, however, who broke first.

"Alright, Miss JJ," Al agreed and was rewarded with a blinding smile.

"Lovely," the blonde BAU agent said, her tone tinged with something Ed thought was smugness at having won. Ed was just pleased to know that he wasn't the only one who wasn't immune to JJ's emotional manipulation.

The drive was spent in silence and it didn't take them long to pull up in front of their destination, due to the fact there was barely any traffic. Ed and Al slipped out of the front seats and Hotch decided to claim their vacated seats as his, giving those in the back a bit more room.

"I'll be in the office by 7:30am tomorrow," Havoc promised the boys once he rolled his window down so he could talk to them.

"We should be in by the same time," Hotch told them and both Elrics nodded.

"We'll see you tomorrow morning then," Ed said.

"Goodnight, guys," Alphonse smiled as he gave them all a wave goodbye.

"Goodnight, boys," JJ smiled back as the others all bade them goodbye as well and Havoc drove off.

Ed and Al headed into the building once the car had driven most of the way down the street and they'd practically lost sight of it. They headed up the stairs and soon found themselves in front of the door to Gracia's apartment. There were no notes attached to it this time but Ed still decided to use his tracking array, just to make certain there were no unwanted visitors inside.

"All clear," Ed announced, letting the array go. He felt the Lions and Al's sense of relief as he unlocked the door and led the way inside.

"You smell. You get to shower first," Al said, shoving Ed towards the bathroom. "I'll be in our room when you're finished," Al informed him.

Ed didn't argue since the last time he did shower properly had been when he and Al had last returned to the house, the morning Hawkeye and Ed had gone to meet the generals to search Mustang's place. His cleansing arrays allowed him to keep his clothes clean, so that his sweat wasn't clinging to the cloth and contributing to his body odor. The quick wash he'd had at the hospital didn't count since he hadn't been allowed to get his injuries wet for the first twenty-four hours. He spent several minutes just allowing the hot water to wash all the tension and stress off of him before he carefully cleaned his injuries and washed his hair. He got dressed in a pair of boxers and combed out his wet hair but didn't bother putting his pajamas on since he needed Al to help him wrap his injuries in fresh bandages and check the stitches he couldn't see himself.

"Oi," Ed said, throwing a first aid kit at his brother, who caught it with ease. "You need to be my nurse," Ed told him. Al rolled his eyes but opened the box as Ed sat down on the bed and started drying off his automail.

"You could ask me a little nicer since I'm the one who decides how tightly to wrap these bandages," Al said, tugging a tiny bit too hard on the bandage he was winding around the stitched gash on Ed's arm to prove his point.

"Yeah, yeah," Ed mumbled, rolling his eyes. It didn't take long for Al to finish his nurse duties and then it was Ed's turn to shove his brother towards the bathroom. "You need to go for a shower as well. You don't exactly smell like roses either, you know," Ed teased. Al let out a bark of laughter before disappearing into the bathroom. When his brother emerged, Ed checked the stitches on his brother's head wound and declared that they looked good.

Since neither of them was really all that tired, despite the events of the last few days and the fact that neither of them had gotten any really sound sleep since before Hawkeye was kidnapped and Al was assaulted, they each grabbed an armful of books they'd been meaning to read and went back to the lounge.

"_You really should be sleeping,"_ Blue pestered Ed for the tenth time since he and Al had settled on the couches.

"_**I'm not tired and all I'd be doing in my room right now is staring at the ceiling and dying a slow, painful death of boredom**_," Ed told her. _**"I'd much rather read myself into exhaustion." **_He felt the Lions roll their eyes before Blue seemed to disappear for a moment, only to return with the feeling of smug confidence.

"_My pilot wishes for me to tell you that you should at least try and get some sleep so you don't end up – and I quote – perpetually exhausted, like a certain mullet he could name,"_ Blue told him dutifully and Ed snorted indignantly.

"_**You went and tattled on me to Lance?!"**_ He asked incredulously and he felt Blue's mental equivalent of a shrug. He almost went on to say something when he felt Keith's own indignation through Red. Evidently, it was so strong that Ed could feel it through his bond with Red, who felt it first-hand through her bond with her pilot.

Ed had to chuckle at this development, causing Al to raise his brow in amusement at Ed's seemingly random laughter as the conversation devolved into Lance and Keith snarking at each other. Blue and Red kept Edward in the loop by telling him what they were saying and passing along his own messages, much to the blonde's delight.

"_Shiro would like me to ask you politely to stop encouraging the Red and Blue pilots to fight with each other, even if it is just teasing." _Ed had his bond with the head of Voltron to thank for knowing that he hadn't imagined the amusement in her tone when she had done as she was asked. Ed didn't apologise but he did stay out of Lance and Keith's next bantering session that started only a couple of minutes later when Keith had made a choice comment to Lance that set them off again.

"_Hey, Ed, Pidge wants to know if there's anything wrong with your tablet, if it's still running smoothly or if there's any improvements you can think of for it," _Green asked, effectively stealing Ed's attention from the bantering match.

"_**I don't know how she managed it but that tablet has managed to survive everything it's accidentally gone through since I returned from my adventure with you guys,"**_ Ed said, letting his awe bleed through the bond. _**"It's come in handy a few times with Elysia. She really loves the movies, though she does get upset when we tell her that she can't watch the movies on it with her friends. Other than that, the only thing I can think of wanting is a way to be able to send the Paladins and Alteans messages directly to their tablets so that I'm not always relying on you guys to act as messengers,"**_ Ed told them, flushing with embarrassment as the Lions cooed at him.

Ed thought he felt a flash of hesitation then slight guilt from the Lions but he didn't get the chance to linger on it when Green passed along a message from Pidge, promising to do what she could the next time she saw him. At that, he thought he felt a knowing smugness from the Lions but Hunk and Yellow had apparently taken this as their opportunity to badger Ed.

"_Hunk wants to know if you've been eating well. Does he need to give you more recipes to try?"_ Yellow asked and Ed felt slightly sheepish.

"_**Actually, we've mostly been eating take-out, especially in the last few days,"**_ Ed admitted and he could've sworn he heard Hunk's outraged gasp through Yellow_**. "Well, it's not like any of us really had the chance to cook when we were busy trying to find a serial killer and save Mustang's arse! Not to mention that we were up against corrupt generals who were determined to use the judicial system for themselves and we were trying to make sure no one figured out where the BAU agents are from!"**_ Ed said defensively and was slightly happy at the guilty feeling he was now getting from Yellow.

"_Sorry, Ed. Hunk says he's sorry as well,"_ Yellow said, sounding so morose that Ed felt bad for defending himself.

"_**It's alright. I know you guys are just worried about me and I appreciate it more than you'll ever admit. I promise that once the BAU goes home and Miss Gracia and Elysia are back in Central, we'll eat more home-cooked meals,"**_ Ed swore before smiling softly. _**"I wouldn't mind new recipes from Hunk, though,"**_ he told them and Yellow laughed.

"_He says that once everything has settled back down for you, he'll give you more recipes to try,"_ Yellow told him and Ed grinned happily.

Ed was distracted from his conversations with the Lions and their Paladins by the sound of something thumping to the ground. Upon investigation, he found Al jerking himself back awake before blinking quite obviously. He watched his younger brother rub his tired eyes before he leaned down to pick up the book he'd apparently dropped before trying to resume his reading. Ed knew he had to put his foot down and send his younger brother to bed. He was not oblivious to the irony of Al being the sleep-deprived and stubborn brother while Ed was being the reasonable one and it was in fact a welcome change of pace.

"Come on, Al. You know you need to get some sleep when you almost damage a book because you're too tired to hold onto it," Ed said as he hopped up and started tugging on Al's arm to get him to stand.

"'m n't ti-" Al yawned widely, "tired," he said, blinking slowly as he tried to fight to stay awake.

"Sure you aren't," Ed laughed before he started walking Al up the hallway towards their room, placing his automail hand lightly on the center of his brother's back to push him lightly forwards.

Despite his protests, Al nosedived into his bed and didn't move from where he landed once they reached their shared room. Ed went back to the lounge, stifling a yawn before deciding to admit that the Lions cajoling to for him to get to bed while he was now tired was probably a good idea. He also decided to ignore the feeling of smugness coming from the Voltron Lions as he turned the lights off and picked up the books he and Alphonse had spread across the lounge before going back to his room to get some sleep.

He pulled the covers over his brother when he entered his room once again and noticed Al hadn't managed to pull them up himself before falling asleep. Moving quietly so as to not wake his brother, he removed his sling and placed it on his bedside table, next to his tablet. He climbed into his bed and lay down carefully so he wouldn't stress his injuries and find himself being lectured by Al, the Lions, Lance, Doctor Evans and his team in the morning if he popped a stitch or two.

He and the Lions talked for a little while longer and Ed even managed to talk to Allura and Coran when they found some time in their busy schedules to be able to talk with him through the Lions for a few minutes. Both Alteans had heard about his injuries and the events over the last week so Ed didn't have to fill them in on anything. He scowled when Black informed Allura and Coran that Ed was barely able to keep his eyes open, causing the Altean Princess to apologise profusely to the alchemist for keeping him awake. Ed used Blue to pass along the message that he wasn't a stranger to sleepless nights so he was alright with them talking to him for long, especially because he enjoyed being able to catch up with them.

Coran had tried giving him advice on how to cure his insomnia when Ed mentioned that going multiple days without sleep wasn't unusual for him, but Ed had politely reminded him that the things he was listing likely wouldn't be found in Amestris and he honestly wasn't sure he'd be able to find something that was the Altean equivalent of a Cadbariss bean or whatever else Coran suggested. Yellow told Ed that Allura saved him from the extremely detailed description of the Cadbariss bean when she reminded Coran they still had things to do and Ed needed sleep shortly after the two Alteans had asked her to pass along their well wishes to the alchemist. Ed asked her to pass his sincere thanks on to Allura when Coran wasn't around.

After the Alteans had left the conversation, Ed started saying goodnight to the Paladins and promising to pass along messages to Al or Mustang later the next day. Shiro was the last Paladin Ed said goodnight to because Black's pilot had wanted to take a moment of privacy to tell Ed how proud he had been to hear about him opening up to Reid like he had. Ed felt a flash of anger and annoyance at Black for telling her pilot but it disappeared almost immediately when she next spoke.

"_I'm sorry, cub,"_ Black whispered in his mind, voice almost submissive as Ed felt her genuine remorse at the idea that she'd betrayed his trust. _"I only told him because I knew he would be as proud as I am of you when he found out that you were learning to trust others,"_ she told him and Ed sighed a little. How could he stay mad after that? It was like staying mad at Elysia.

"_**I'm sorry for my anger. I'm really not mad at you, Black. In fact, I'm happy you did because I'd like to know what Shiro thinks about me telling the other BAU agents." **_Ed said hesitantly and was shocked at the genuine joy he felt from Black.

"_Shiro says that he is very proud of you for even considering telling the others but he also wants to stress that it is completely your decision. Nobody would blame you if you decided that just telling Reid this trip is all you can handle or if you decided to simply give Reid permission to tell the others when they got home on your behalf,"_ Black dutifully passed along the message after several moments of quiet while she relayed Ed's question to her pilot.

Ed immediately dismissed the idea of asking Reid to tell the others. His and Al's story wasn't one that he'd ever ask someone else to tell on his behalf unless he couldn't physically talk to the other person. In fact, he knew that the only time he'd ever consider asking someone else to do that was if he ever decided to allow the Lions to tell the Paladins and the Alteans what he and Alphonse had done.

"_**Can you thank Shiro for me, please, Black?"**_ Ed asked and felt her assent immediately.

"_He says that you're most welcome but that you should also get some sleep now before Lance figures out inter-dimensional travel himself, just so he can lecture you,"_ Black's voice with filled with gentle amusement that only grew when Ed laughed.

"_**Yeah, I wouldn't put it past him,"**_ Ed chuckled as he made himself comfortable once more, pulling the covers up over himself.

Black must've told Shiro that Ed was about to fall asleep because she soon passed on a message from the older Paladin, bidding him goodnight. Ed now only had the Lions to talk to as he recognised the signs that he would be asleep in a matter of minutes. The Lions had felt the small amount of shock from Ed when he realised Shiro wouldn't be upset with him if he didn't tell the other BAU agents. They weren't even sure if Ed himself had felt it but they didn't address it. Instead, they decided to flood their bond with Ed with the love and warmth they felt for the young blond. Ed drifted off to sleep, a small smile on his face as the Lions silently congratulated themselves when they felt Edward pass into sound slumber.

* * *

Even though the sleep the boys had gotten before Belmont attacked Al and Hawkeye wasn't exactly _refreshing_ or even _good_, it had obviously been enough because the two of them woke up naturally, feeling a lot better and with an hour to get themselves ready and to the office to report for duty. The Lions gave Ed their usual chirpy good morning and Ed was actually rested enough that he didn't immediately grumble something about morning Lions and how they could go shove their peppiness somewhere the sun don't shine until after he'd had his morning coffee.

Ed and Al's walk to the office was as uneventful as one could hope for the first half of their journey. The first sign they'd gotten that word about Mustang's impending release had gotten out was when a reporter confronted them and shoved a voice recorder in front of them, though this man had obviously learned from his fellow journalists and kept his recorder out of easy reach of any alchemic destruction. As much as both of them wanted to take a dig at Widdon and Combes, as well as brag to the whole of Amestris about how they'd been right the whole time, they decided to merely answer with a generalized comment about how they were just happy to see justice for Mustang and how happy they were the families and friends of the victims could get closure now that the true criminal had been found.

They were walking in comfortable silence when Ed decided to break it. "I think I'm going to tell them on the train tomorrow." Al had obviously been thinking about their conversation outside of the ex-Fifth Laboratory because he knew immediately what Ed was talking about.

"Are you sure, Brother?" Al asked and Ed sighed.

"No," he admitted, "but I don't want Reid to have to keep our secret from them for us. I know he won't tell them if I ask him not to, but it's not fair to ask him to keep such a big secret from his teammates."

"You could ask Reid to tell them our secret after they go home," Al pointed out but Ed was already shaking his head.

"You know I couldn't ask him to do that," Ed said and Al nodded, completely unsurprised by his answer.

"I know," he told him. There was a beat of silence. "So, what are you going to do?" Al asked curiously and Ed shrugged.

"I don't know. I _want_ to tell them," Ed said, sounding a little surprised with himself, "but I don't know if I can. They deserve to know the truth about what we did and I know that once they leave this time, the chances of us ever meeting again are slim to none, unless Truth feels like kidnapping me again. The train ride tomorrow is really the only time I'm guaranteed to have privacy to tell them." Ed still sounded unsure but Al didn't call him out on it.

"Have you spoken to the Lions or maybe even Shiro?" Al asked.

For a couple of weeks after Ed and Mustang's return, Al had felt an irrational jealousy towards the Lions and Paladins whenever Ed brought them up and especially after Ed told him about Shiro's advice regarding how to deal with what happened during the fight with Hagger. Of course, Al had been grateful for the Black Paladin being there for Ed but at the same time…

He had been Ed's emotional support ever since their mother had passed - they'd been each other's emotional support – and Al didn't like sharing that with anyone. Ed had eventually figured out something was going on with him and asked what was wrong. Al had admitted his jealousy, sure that Ed was going to tell him to stop being an idiot, but Ed had given him a tight hug and reassured him that no one could replace him. _Then_ he ruined the moment by telling him not to be an idiot.

"Yeah, when we went to bed last night," Ed told him. "Shiro said the same thing you did. I could tell them, not tell them or ask Reid to tell them for me."

"I always knew Shiro was smart," Al grinned, knocking his fist lightly against Ed's arm and pushing him slightly, causing Ed to laugh. "I know you'll tell me off if I offered to tell them myself without you there- "

"Damn right I will," Ed muttered but Al ignored the interruption.

"So I won't. But I will be there when you tell them, if you'd like," Al offered and Ed gave Al a small smile.

"If you insist, baby brother," Ed grinned, slinging his automail arm around Al's shoulder and pulling him for a hug, ignoring Al's protests.

* * *

It was 7:20 a.m. when they arrived at the front gates and were permitted entrance by the soldiers guarding it. Sheska joined them for the final few blocks of their walk, having run into them almost literally as she rushed to get to Brookes' office so she wouldn't be late for her first day back from the "personal leave" she had taken.

"How are you, Ed? I'm sorry I never managed to get over to see you at the hospital or yesterday," Sheska said, sounding truly regretful but Ed waved off her worries with a smile.

"I'm doing well, Miss Sheska. Thank you for your concern and please don't worry too much about not being able to visit me. I wasn't admitted for very long."

She let out a small relieved sigh. "I'm very glad to hear that, Ed. How are you, Alphonse? Is your head any better?" Sheska turned her worry from Ed to Al now that she was satisfied Ed wasn't likely to keel over in front of her.

"I'm feeling a lot better. Thank you for asking," Al gave her a soft smile that she shyly returned. Even though she had known them for a couple of years now, she still retreated into her shell around them sometimes.

"Oh, I need to head this way now," Sheska said, her tone surprised that they had already reached the corridor where Brookes' office was situated.

"Have a good day, Miss Sheska, and thank you so much for all of your help these past few days. We really appreciated having you with us," Al said sincerely, causing Sheska to blush slightly.

"Yeah, you were a massive help. In fact, you and Brookes should join us for dinner tonight. Mustang's gonna pay since we saved him from prison. Since you and Brookes played a big part in that and were some of the only ones to believe his innocence, you should definitely join us," Ed told her with a grin.

"Oh, that's truly a wonderful offer, Ed. I'll pass the invitation along to Lieutenant Colonel Brookes but I don't see why I wouldn't be able to go. Not unless something comes up between now and then, anyway," Sheska rambled slightly, sounding slightly chuffed at being invited along.

"Awesome. Tell Brookes to drop by anytime today or give the office a call with his answer and someone will give him the time and place we're meeting when it's been decided." Sheska nodded enthusiastically before realising she was almost late. She managed a quick wave at the two boys before disappearing down the corridor at a frantic pace.

"_We need to meet her as well if we ever manage to dimension hop,"_ Green informed Ed, causing the blond to laugh and agree.

"They should make a list of people they want to meet," Al suggested when Ed explained why he'd laughed.

"They already have," Ed said, rolling his eyes a little as the two of them resumed their walk to their office. The Lions did the mental version of sticking their tongues out at him, which made Ed shake his head fondly at them as he and Al made their way to the office.

* * *

"Good morning, boys," Hawkeye greeted as the two brothers stepped into the office. A glance around confirmed that she was the only person in the office.

"Morning, Captain," Ed greeted as he immediately headed for his desk next to hers. He was still technically Mustang so he still had paperwork to do this morning. "How are you this morning?" Ed couldn't help but ask.

"I'm quite well. A good night's sleep in my own bed seems to have been what I really needed," Hawkeye informed them, with a rare touch of warmth in her professional tone. "How are you this morning, Edward, Alphonse?" she asked, giving both boys a significant look over, like she was trying to see if she could spot any new injuries or evidence that they hadn't gone back to Gracia's for the night, like she had told them to do.

"I think sleeping in our own beds had the same effect for us," Ed told her as he accepted the paperwork she handed to him. "I haven't ripped any stitches yet, which is probably a record for me, so there's that," Ed added on.

"That's good to hear, Edward. I imagine Doctor Evans would not have been impressed to have you back in his examination room because you ripped your stitches," Hawkeye stated before raising a brow at Al.

"The same for me as well," Al told her when he realised she had been waiting for him to answer. "My head doesn't hurt anymore and the rest of my injuries seem to be healing as well as can be expected." Hawkeye seemed satisfied with their responses as she turned back to her own paperwork. Ed took the hint and started on his own while Al went into Mustang's office and emerged with a couple of books to keep himself entertained.

Ed wasn't focused long enough on his paperwork to manage to tune out the outside world completely so he did look up when the door opened and permitted everyone else inside. There was a slightly awkward moment when the Amestrians realised that without a case or the technology they were used to, the BAU team didn't have a lot of options to keep themselves occupied while Mustang's team worked on their daily paperwork. Ed told them they could raid Mustang's office for books to read – something Reid did with a lot of enthusiasm – or they were welcome to find something else to do before he returned back to his paperwork and tuned everyone out.

* * *

Ed's focus on his paperwork was only broken when he signed the final piece of it and handed it over to Hawkeye to check over. He took the opportunity presented to observe everyone else. His team were doing their paperwork but were lightly engaged in conversation with various BAU agents. Reid, of course, had an ever-growing pile of books he had finished reading next to him as he devoured one tome after another. Al had finished his own book and had joined in on the conversation at some point. Hawkeye was apparently fine with the chatter today, since he hadn't heard a gun being cocked or fired.

"Excellent work, Edward," Hawkeye praised, giving Ed a smile as she stacked his papers on her completed ones. "How is everyone else going with their work?" Hawkeye asked, voice telling them that there was only one answer that wouldn't see them getting shot.

"Nearly done with my high priority ones, Captain," Falman reported. The other members of their team came back with similar answers and Hawkeye looked content enough with that answer.

"Good work, gentlemen. May I make a request, Edward?" Hawkeye asked formally, causing Ed to squirm uncomfortably.

"You don't have to ask, Captain. I'm only in charge on paper, remember? Just like Mustang is," Ed reminded her, not being able to help the small quip at the older alchemist, despite the fact he wasn't there. Hawkeye didn't reprimand him or any of the others when they laughed so Ed took it as a win.

"I realised last night that General Mustang's house hasn't been tidied up from the Generals' raid yet. I would like to head over to his home and do a tidy-up of his place but I would require help from anyone who wished to volunteer their time," Hawkeye said. Ed blinked in surprise as he realised he hadn't spared Mustang's house a second thought once they left it after the search warrant had been served. "I know I certainly wouldn't want to face the kind of mess that Generals Widdon and Combes left in their wake the night I was released from a holding cell." Hawkeye's pointed words had the intended effect on everyone.

"We'll be happy to extend a hand," Hotch told her, not giving anyone on his team room to argue, not that any of them would have.

Mustang's team all exchanged looks before Havoc spoke up for all them. "I think we're all in," he said, the other three nodding behind him.

"I'm happy to help," Al said, to absolutely no one's surprise. Ed seemed to be contemplating something.

"_If you don't answer her soon, she's going to get annoyed with you,"_ Blue chided gently, causing Ed to start.

"_Besides, if you agree to go with them and help, you can show Captain Hawkeye this,"_ Red added, pushing one of Ed's memories towards the front of his mind and Ed felt himself grin as he realised what Red was showing him. Both he and Red ignored Yellow's mutter about troublemakers.

"I suppose I could come and help," Ed sighed long-sufferingly. "It can just be another thing the bastard owes me for," Ed grinned as Al rolled his eyes at him.

"Thank you, Edward," Hawkeye gave him a grateful smile. "I suggest that someone takes the completed paperwork and distributes it to where it needs to go. Once that is done, I'll organise some cars to take us to General Mustang's house," she informed them. Breda took the hint and went around to his teammates' desks to gather whatever paperwork they'd managed to get done before leaving the office. Everyone who didn't have paperwork relaxed slightly, content to wait for Breda's return while the three people who still had some paperwork steadily worked their way through the rest of their piles so they wouldn't have as much to do upon their return.

* * *

Hawkeye requested two cars for the group to use, as Havoc and Falman would be the ones driving. Brookes had dropped by just before Breda had made it back to let Ed know that he would love to join them for dinner that night. Ed had grinned and told him that someone would come and find him and Sheska later that day to let them know the particulars. Brookes left a couple of minutes later, having dropped by on his way to an appointment. Breda showed up ten minutes later and the group left the office for the military carpool.

The two cars were waiting for them, as the sergeant Hawkeye had spoken to promised. All they had to do was sign out the keys, which as the highest-ranking officer was Ed's job, before getting into the cars. Every BAU member, except for Reid, went into the car driven by Havoc and the rest were driven by Falman. Ed could feel Red's anticipation grow a little stronger as they approached the house.

Since Mustang hadn't been released yet, the guard rotation assigned to his home hadn't been removed as there was still a danger that someone could break into the house. Ed was glad to see the soldier guarding the front of the house shift, watching the two cars pull up with a suspicious eye. He didn't move from his post, staying where he was and watching the two groups leave the cars and make their way over to him.

"Please state your names and business here," the soldier requested, moving smoothly so he was now blocking the door rather than standing right next to it.

"I'm Captain Hawkeye," Hawkeye introduced herself before gesturing to Edward. "This is Lieutenant Colonel Elric, his brother, Alphonse," Hawkeye's hand moved to Al, "his team," a gesture to the four other Amestrians, "and some friends of ours. We're here to fix any damage done to Brigadier General Mustang's home during the execution of Generals' Combes and Widdon's search warrant." The soldier immediately saluted Ed and Hawkeye, both of whom waved a dismissal at him.

"My apologies, Lieutenant Colonel, Captain, but I have standing orders from Lieutenant Colonel Brookes to ask for the identity of anyone who approached the house," the soldier explained, a touch nervously.

"Then let me commend you for following your orders," Hawkeye said, giving him an approving nod. "If you would, please go and alert your partner to the fact that we will be inside the house for a few hours. Warrant Officer Fuery will wait here until you return to your post," Hawkeye ordered, nodding to Fuery.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am," the soldier said before saluting once more and leaving immediately when Hawkeye dismissed him.

"Can I blow the door up again? It was a lot of fun last time," Ed asked, eyes shining with a mix of hopefulness and mischief.

"No," Hawkeye said simply as she unlocked the door with her keys, ignoring Ed's pout.

"When did you ever blow Mustang's door up?" Morgan asked as everyone sans Fuery entered the house.

"Ah, like two months after we were transferred here, Al and I went for a really late walk because neither of us could sleep. A couple of streets away from Mustang's place, some idiots ambushed us, thinking we would be an easy mark," Ed explained as he recalled the events. "I think it was like, three in the morning. Anyway, they managed to separate us during the fight, probably thinking it would be easier to take us down. I took down the four who fought me but I got stabbed in the gut for my troubles and I couldn't hear or see Al anywhere. Despite what my brother claims, I _do_ know my own limitations," Ed said, looking pointedly at Al, who rolled his eyes.

"Keep telling yourself that, Brother. One day I might believe you," Al snarked back.

"What happened next, Ed?" Reid asked, putting a stop to any remark Ed was going to make.

"I knew Mustang's address. I knew everyone's address but Mustang was closest to me and I had no choice. It was Mustang's or bleed out before Al could find me and I didn't know if Al was hurt or not," Ed told them. "Anyway, I got myself here and pounded on the door but he didn't answer right away so I used alchemy to destroy the door so I could see if I could find a first aid kit and patch myself up. Mustang was _not_ impressed," Ed told them.

"I can't imagine why," Hotch drawled as everyone else laughed at Ed's faux-innocent grin.

"Mustang obviously helped you and you guys found Al, though, right?" JJ asked and Ed waved his hand in a 'kind-of' gesture.

"Mustang did his best to patch me up but he ended up having to call Havoc to keep me stabilised while we waited for an ambulance. Mustang left when Havoc turned up to go find Al, only to run into him at the end of his street. Al had found his way back to where we were when we got separated and followed my blood trail," Ed told them. Both Havoc and Al nodded to back up his tale.

"I apologise, Havoc, but why would Mustang call you? I thought he had experience as field medic," Rossi asked, remembering Ed mentioning that.

"The General does have field medic training but only for the basic stuff. I'm a certified field medic so I've got much more advanced training in dealing with larger injuries, like what the chief had," Havoc explained. "Mustang also knew I'd could get there more quickly than an ambulance and since we needed to find Al as well…" Havoc trailed off, letting them finish his statement themselves.

"Were you badly injured, Alphonse?" JJ asked, looking worried even though the fight happened years ago.

"No, actually. Brother just had the unfortunate luck to deal with the only armed thug in the group," Al lied smoothly. In fact, two of Al's attackers had been armed with pistols but the bullets hadn't done much more than ding and scratch his armour. However, since none of the BAU – except Reid –knew about that, he couldn't tell the full truth just yet.

"Of course he did," JJ sighed, an air of resignation about her, causing everyone to laugh at her remark.

"Yes, Edward has a remarkable tendency to attract the most trouble for himself," Hawkeye said, a small amount of melancholy in her voice before she clapped her hands together. "We should start tidying this place up. Edward and Alphonse can take care of the library and study. The rest of you can fan out and tackle other parts of the house," Hawkeye ordered. Receiving nods, she went to go up to the master bedroom but Ed stopped her at the top of the staircase.

"Actually, Captain, I think it would be best for you to clear the guest room. There was a drawer filled with official-looking paperwork and you would be the best person to sort through it and make sure it was put back in order," Ed suggested, leading her to the guest room and gesturing to the paper strewn across it. Hawkeye's mouth twitched but she nodded.

"Yes, I believe that would be for the best, Edward. Are you going to clean the study?" she asked and Ed nodded. "Very well," she said before stepping into the room and leaving Ed in the hallway.

"_I really hope she waits to confront him about that until you're there to witness it,"_ Red cackled as she imagined the confrontation while Ed grinned sharply to himself.

"_**Me too, Red,"**_ Ed laughed, feeling the other Lions mix of amusement and desire to reprimand the two of them.

"_I can't believe you're planning on siccing Hawkeye onto Mustang the same day he's released from the holding cell,"_ Blue said, mentally shaking her head in exasperation at him.

"_**Not my fault the bastard decided to hide his paperwork in his house nor is it my fault that the generals uncovered it during their search,"**_ Ed pointed out as he entered the study and got to work.

"_Yes, but I feel I should point out that you _did_ tell Hawkeye about it so you could watch the lecture he would get,"_ Black said and Ed sent a wave of fake innocence through their bond.

"_**I just didn't want to risk them being extremely confidential or messing up his system. Hawkeye was the obvious choice,"**_ Ed told her, tone faux offended at her accusation. Black mentally rolled her eyes as he grinned before getting properly stuck into his self-assigned task, joining in on the Lions' and, when they realised Ed was talking to the Lions, the Paladins' conversations.

* * *

Ed was jolted out of his thoughts and mental conversations by the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him. He'd managed to get about half of the study reorganised in between his chat with the Paladins and Lions. Allura had even joined in – through Black – for a couple of minutes, much to Ed's surprise, but they hadn't been able to talk for very long since she was needed in the control room for a meeting with the leader of a planet the Castle-ship was planning to stop and resupply on. Coran was busy getting ready to accept the communication when Ed asked where he was. Ed put the book he had in his hand on the shelf before turning around to see who was in the room with him.

"Hey, Captain," Ed said, surprised to see the blonde. "Is something wrong?" he asked, wondering if he'd missed something while he was talking with the Voltron crew.

"No, nothing's wrong. I've finished with the guest room. I really only needed to put the papers in order and straighten the furniture up. The sheets on the guest bed will need to be washed so I've taken them down to the laundry," Hawkeye explained and Ed nodded. "Would you like a hand in here?" she asked and Ed considered it for a moment.

"Actually, that would be great. If you want to start picking the rest of the books up off the floor and checking them over for damage, that would be handy," Ed said and she nodded, immediately moving forward to do as he suggested.

They worked in mostly silence. Hawkeye picked up each book and checked it thoroughly for damage. Fortunately, most of the damaged books only had bent or wrinkled pages thanks to the book opening when it was tossed aside and landing on the pages but in a few cases she found ripped pages, pages torn clean out or pages with dirty footprints pressed into them. A small percentage of the books – the oldest and most used ones – had been thrown with enough force to damage to spine enough that the only reason the pages hadn't fallen out was simply thanks to luck.

When she found a damaged book, she handed it to Ed, who used alchemy to mend it as best he could. The books that had been stepped on were mended by Ed carefully alchemising the dirt away but the actual print of the boot couldn't be removed without damaging the page or the printed words. All Ed could do was flatten the page or pages affected and hope the pressure of the closed book and the pressure from the book being squeezed between several others on the shelf would revert the page or pages back to their original shape.

Once all of the books had been picked up and checked over, Hawkeye joined in on shelving them to the best of their ability, since they weren't entirely sure what system Mustang used at home for his references. They spoke quietly, mainly about whatever Ed, the Lions and the Paladins had been talking about. Red sulked when Ed refused to ask Hawkeye about what she planned on doing to Mustang when she confronted him about the papers stashed in his guest room.

"Is that everything?" Ed asked once he placed the last book he could see on the shelf in front of him. Both he and Hawkeye double-checked the room for any stray books but came up empty-handed.

"Have you put all the boxes in their places?" Hawkeye asked and Ed did a quick count of the boxes before nodding.

"All the boxes are there. Whether they're in the right spot is anyone's guess until Mustang checks," Ed admitted. Hawkeye pursed her lips before nodding.

"I suppose the first time you saw this room was during the generals' search," Hawkeye said and Ed nodded.

"Yeah, the only time I was in this house was when I was bleeding out so I really only saw the lounge room and entry way," Ed told her and she nodded.

"I'll admit that I've been here a few times to drop paperwork off on the odd occasion General Mustang was ill or otherwise unable to come into the office himself but I've never spent any time in this room so I am unsure of where the boxes are meant to be. I'm sure the general will be able to place them in the correct spot himself, if they aren't already in it," Hawkeye said. "Let's go see if the others need any help. We should start with those already on this floor," Hawkeye suggested. Ed nodded and followed her out of the newly tidied study.

Since they knew the guest bedroom and study were fixed to their original state, the next room they checked was the main bedroom. Havoc had apparently decided to take on that task himself and was just finishing rehanging the uniforms Ed had placed on the bed when they entered. Other than the uniforms Havoc hadn't hung up again, only the bed needed to be fixed.

"Hey, chief. Hey, Captain," Havoc greeted as they entered the room.

"Hey, Havoc," Ed smiled back. "Want a hand with anything in here?" He asked but Havoc shook his head.

"Nah, don't really have all that much left to do in here," Havoc said, waving his arm in gesture to show them the lack of mess left.

"Very well. We'll check on the others," Hawkeye said with a nod. Ed waved goodbye to Havoc before following Hawkeye to the bathroom, noting as they left the main bedroom that someone had already been up and cleared up the tangled mess of sheets and other items that had been thrown out of the linen closet during the search.

No one was in the bathroom but Ed noted that the items that had been moved or pulled out of the cabinets had disappeared back into them so someone had been up to tidy the bathroom. Ed figured it was likely the same person who picked up the stuff from the linen cupboard. Since there was nowhere else on the first floor to check, both Hawkeye and Ed headed back downstairs to see how everyone was going down there.

"Hey, Al. How are you doing with this?" Ed asked as soon as he spotted his little brother picking up the few remaining books up off the lounge room floor and placing them carefully back on the shelf.

"Nearly finished," Al said, giving both of them a smile.

"Were you working in here by yourself?" Hawkeye asked, frowning a little. Ed figured it was a fair question considering there were at least as many books in here than there were in the study and Ed had had Hawkeye's help for a good portion of the sorting.

"Oh, no, I had some helpers but I sent them off to the kitchen to clean it up since I'm basically done here," Al told her, placing another book on the shelf.

"Alright, I'll go see how they are going. Ed, you stay here and put those boxes up while Alphonse finishes up with the books," Hawkeye ordered before moving past the boys and heading into the kitchen. Ed and Al heard a chorus of greetings from those in the kitchen before turning back to their jobs.

"How'd your little revenge plan go?" Al asked and Ed grinned a little sheepishly.

"Ah, so you realised what that was?" Ed asked and Al deadpanned stared at him, causing Ed to laugh. "It wasn't just my idea, you know!" Ed exclaimed, keeping his voice quiet.

"Really? Please, do enlighten me, Brother, but who else would do something like that to General Mustang?" Al asked as one brow rose in disbelief.

"If you really must know, Red was the one who actually gave me the idea," Ed sniffed before grinning when he felt Red's pride in herself for her suggestion.

"Of course she did. She's pretty much the Lion version of you," Al muttered.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Ed said, pausing for a moment before laughing a little, "and so will Red." Al rolled his eyes.

"The two of you would," Al said before poking his tongue out.

"Stop acting like children, you two," Morgan chided, startling the two brothers.

"Technically, we still are," Al said, grinning as the BAU agent joined them in the lounge room.

"All you needed to do after saying that would be to poke your tongue out," Morgan joked, nudging Al's shoulder and earning himself an eye roll.

"So, what's up, Morgan?" Ed asked as he placed the last box in the spot he thought it belonged in.

"Nothing. Just checking to make sure the two of you were good," Morgan said. "We're pretty much all done with the rest of the house. The rest of my team is tidying up the last little bit while Hawkeye is doing whatever she's doing in the pantry. I think Fuery and Falman are checking over the backyard and Breda is making sure the generals and their teams didn't damage the car," Morgan told them, causing Ed and Al's intrigue to rise when Morgan mentioned Hawkeye.

"Wonder what she's doing in the pantry," Al said and Ed shrugged his right shoulder.

"I don't know. General Combes' team did make a massive mess in there. Maybe she's checking nothing else was damaged?" Ed offered as an answer. Like she heard them talking about her, Hawkeye appeared in the lounge room.

"I'm going to take Fuery and Falman with me to the grocer's to buy replacements for what General Combes' team spilled everywhere," Hawkeye announced.

"Shouldn't the military be reimbursing Mustang for that sort of stuff?" Ed asked, not liking the idea that Hawkeye should have to pay for what the generals did.

"Unfortunately, no. The generals were well within their rights to search this house and even go through the pantry items like they did. However, I will be keeping the receipts so General Mustang can reimburse me himself," Hawkeye said, giving Ed a slight smile when he nodded approvingly of her plan. "We shouldn't be longer than half an hour," Hawkeye said.

"Alright, we'll see you soon," Ed said. Hawkeye gave him and the two others standing next to him a sharp nod before heading for the backyard to collect Fuery and Falman. It didn't take long for them to hear one of the cars start up and drive away. "I'm gonna raid Mustang's kitchen for coffee," Ed announced, moving for the kitchen.

"Brother!" Al reprimanded. "I want a cup too," he said, grinning as Ed rolled his eyes.

"I have one good arm. You can make your own damn cup of coffee," Ed grumbled at him, though his eyes were shining with amusement.

"I wouldn't mind a cup either," Morgan said. Both blonds looked at him, looked at each then looked back at him.

"You can make it yourself," they said in unison and Morgan barely suppressed a shudder.

"That's so creepy," he said before following the brothers into the kitchen as they laughed at him.

* * *

True to her word, Hawkeye, Fuery and Falman arrived back within half an hour of them leaving. The soldier who was guarding the front opened the door for them since their arms were filled with bags of groceries. They were greeted by the sight of everyone gathered in the lounge, armed with empty or near-empty coffee cups, talking and laughing. That all quieted when the door opened and both Ed and Al were on their feet in an instant.

"Here, I'll take that bag," Ed said, reaching for one of the bags Hawkeye was holding. She relinquished it readily and he tucked it securely under his automail arm. Al and Reid did the same for Fuery and Falman.

"I hope you cleaned up after yourselves and left enough coffee for the general to have one in the morning," Hawkeye said as she eyed the coffee mugs.

"Even I wouldn't be cruel enough to finish off the man's coffee," Ed told her as they traversed into the kitchen to unpack the groceries.

"Good. I don't want to deal with him whining tomorrow," Hawkeye said, placing her burden on the clean bench. Ed choked on his laughter as he did the same thing with his bag of food. "Would you mind helping me unpack the groceries? You can pass them to me," Hawkeye asked as the four others placed their portion of the shopping next to theirs.

"Yeah, no worries," Ed said.

"Do you want my help as well, Captain Hawkeye?" Fuery asked.

"You and the others may unpack the cold items and place them in the fridge," Hawkeye said and the four of them nodded.

They soon had a good system going. Edward would hand Hawkeye something that belonged in the pantry and by the time he had something else in hand, Hawkeye would have placed the previous item where it was supposed to go. Fuery and Al were doing the same with the cold foodstuff while Falman and Reid placed things like tea and sugar above the kettle.

Since Falman and Reid didn't have all that much to unpack, they went and collected the dirty cups from the rest of the team, ignoring Morgan and Havoc's teasing comments. Reid washed up while Falman dried and placed the clean cups and teaspoons where they belonged. By the time they were done with that, the others were done unpacking the groceries and the grocery bags dealt with. Hawkeye glanced around before nodding in satisfaction and gesturing for the five men to head back into the lounge room.

"Alphonse, would you mind going up to General Mustang's room and grabbing one of his uniforms from his wardrobe? I imagine he would like the opportunity to wear something other than the prison garb once he's released. I think he keeps an overnight bag on top of his wardrobe as well, if you would like to pack it in there?" Hawkeye suggested. "His medals should be in the wooden valet box on top of his dresser."

"Of course, Captain," Al said agreeably before heading up towards the main bedroom. Hawkeye turned to the rest of the group.

"I wish to thank everyone for your help today and I'll make sure to thank Alphonse as well when he's back. I'm sure General Mustang will appreciate this more than he'll admit to," Hawkeye said as she stood in front of the group.

"It was our pleasure to help, Riza," JJ said with an honest smile that Hawkeye returned.

"Like I said, Mustang will just owe me one," Ed said, though his tone told Hawkeye he likely wouldn't use this against Mustang to gain a favour.

"Still, thank you," Hawkeye said sincerely. "We should head back to the office now. Hopefully it won't be too long now until General Mustang is released and some of this team still has paperwork to complete," Hawkeye said, eyes narrowing at Fuery, Breda, Falman and Havoc. All four gulped nervously.

"Sure, let's head back," Ed agreed, heading for the door. The others followed, joined by Alphonse with a bag slung over his shoulder just as they got to the front door, and soon enough they were all outside and grouped on the lawn while Hawkeye locked the front door.

"Should we expect any other visitors today, Captain?" The soldier on guard duty asked as he resumed his post.

"No, there shouldn't be anyone else unless General Mustang is released by tonight. I expect that the only other exception would be Lieutenant Colonel Brookes but I believe he normally accompanies the next shift anyway," Hawkeye said and the soldier nodded.

"Yes, ma'am, he does," the soldier confirmed. "If you wouldn't mind waiting for a few moments, I would appreciate the chance to inform my partner that you've left without disobeying my orders," the soldier said, looking nervous and probably thinking he'd overstepped his bounds.

"Of course not," Hawkeye said. The soldier looked grateful before hurrying around the side of the house. Everyone waited on the front lawn, Hawkeye having joined them, for a minute before the soldier returned from the side of the house.

"Thank you, ma'am," he said as he resumed his post.

"You're welcome, Sergeant," Hawkeye said with a nod. "We'll take our leave now." At her words, the two teams headed for the cars.

"Have a good day, sirs, ma'ams," the soldier called as they walked away.

"You too, Sergeant," Ed said with a nod, the sentiment echoed by the others. Once everyone was in a car, driven again by either Havoc or Falman, they pulled away from the curbside and left Mustang's house in the rearview mirror as they headed back for Central Command.

* * *

There was a debate in Havoc's car about whether or not they should stop to get lunch at one of the restaurants or cafes on their way to the office or if they should just get sandwiches from the mess hall once they'd gotten back to the base. Al had been the one to point out that they didn't know what the others in the second car wanted for lunch so it was probably a good idea just to get sandwiches. The rest of car agreed with as much enthusiasm as food from the mess warranted and they didn't make any stops until they got to the base.

Once they pulled up at the carpool and handed over the sets of keys for the borrowed cars to the waiting soldier, they had a quick vote on whether to get lunch then or to send someone to do a lunch run later. Edward's stomach was vehemently against sending someone later, as was the actual person, and so were the majority of the others so they diverted to the mess hall to buy some sandwiches and drinks.

Once the mess hall had been raided, the group made their way back to the office. They kept their voices and laughter to a minimum so they didn't disturb the soldiers who were currently working in the offices lining the corridors. When they finally reached their office, Ed kidnapped Al for 'an important, private discussion they absolutely needed to have right now' in the inner office, according to Edward. Hawkeye raised a brow knowingly but didn't do anything except snap at the four other members of her team to get to work as the boys disappeared into the office.

"Alright, so you know the plan?" Ed asked as he and Al headed passed the couches.

"Yup," Al confirmed, heading straight for Mustang's bookshelves. Ed and Al exchanged shit-eating grins as they started on their respective jobs.

"_There's no chance I can talk you out of just leaving this alone, can I?"_ Black asked, sounding completely resigned to the fact that she wouldn't be able to.

"_**If you already know the answer, why did you ask?"**_ Ed asked, huffing in amusement at the long-suffering sigh Black gave as an answer.

"_Leave him alone, Black. This is a great idea,"_ Red chided a little too eagerly. Ed had the fleeting thought that if Red was here in person, she would be uncontainable in her excitement and would actually likely flatten them in her eagerness to help. _"Hey! I wouldn't do that! I'd only crush your legs because you probably wouldn't die from that." _Ed could feel Red's smirk through their bond and it made him laugh out loud, causing Al to glance at him from the bookshelves.

"The Lions?" He asked and Ed nodded.

"Black's done her duty of trying to talk me out of this and Red's accomplished her goal of making sure I wouldn't listen to Black," Ed told him with a grin as Black sent the impression of long-suffering patience while Red sent her sister a feeling of proud, self-satisfaction.

"Okay, well, if Red did win this round, you better get back to work," Al said, snapping his fingers at Ed to get himself into gear. Ed flipped him off but didn't actually argue, instead, he started opening drawers up in Mustang's desk and getting started on his part of the plan.

* * *

"Have you boys finished your conversation?" Hawkeye asked when the two emerged barely an hour later. She didn't even look up from her desk and whatever she was doing as she spoke.

"Yup," Ed said as he and Al took their seats at the desks. Not even a minute later there was a knock at the door, causing everyone to jump since they weren't expecting anyone. "Enter," Ed called out, permitting them entrance into the office.

The door opened to reveal Sergeant Browning, much to near everyone's shock. "I'm sorry to disrupt your afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel Elric, but I was asked to pass along a message to you, Captain Hawkeye, Alphonse Elric and Lieutenant Havoc," Browning explained, saluting.

"Alright, who's the message from?" Ed asked curiously, waving the salute away.

"Führer Grumman, Sir," Browning replied, immediately getting everyone's attention. "He would like for the four of you to head up to his office immediately," Browning said.

"Did he say why?" Ed asked, even as he and the other three go to their feet. Al grabbed the overnight bag of Mustang's at Hawkeye's gesture.

"No, Sir, he didn't," Browning replied and Ed nodded, not really having expected another answer.

"Alright. Thanks for passing on the message. We'll head up there right away," Ed said, dismissing the sergeant, who saluted once more before disappearing through the door. "Come on, guys. Let's go see what Grumman wants," Ed said, gesturing for Havoc, Hawkeye and Al to head for the door. "Falman's in charge," Ed said before he followed the others.

"Have fun!" JJ called before the door closed behind the group.

"I wonder what he's after?" Ed mused out loud as the four of them walked towards Grumman's office.

"I don't know, Ed, but given what has been happening, I would imagine that it has something to do with General Mustang or former Major Belmont," Hawkeye told him, sounding confident in her answer.

"Yeah, you might be onto something there," Ed said, nodding. It did make sense, after all. Grumman wouldn't really have any other cases that would concern them right now.

"Maybe he's going to offer you another promotion, chief," Havoc suggested teasingly, causing Al to very poorly cover up a laugh as a cough and Ed to death glare them both.

"I'll be much nicer than I was to Mustang when it comes to turning down a promotion, in the unlikely case that that is what's gonna happen," Ed ground out, much to the amusement of Al and Havoc.

"I can't imagine it would be a promotion, Edward. It's barely been a week since your promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. Führer Grumman wouldn't be able to promote you this soon without exceptionally good reason," Hawkeye reassured him and Ed relaxed a little at her words.

"Good. I didn't even want _this_ promotion," Ed grumbled as they continued walking, ignoring Al and Havoc's light laughter.

The rest of the walk was made in mainly comfortable silence. When they finally reached the outer doors to the Führer's office, Havoc was the one to open them up and close them again once they were all inside. Samantha glanced up at their entrance and smiled broadly at them once she recognised the group.

"Good afternoon, Captain Hawkeye, Lieutenant Havoc, Edward and Alphonse," Samantha greeted as they approached her desk.

"Good afternoon, Miss Samantha," Edward greeted. "We got a message that Führer Grumman wanted to see us ASAP," he told her, getting a nod in return.

"Of course. Please follow me," Samantha said, rising to her feet to lead them to the doors to the inner office. She knocked solidly on the wooden doors once she reached them, opening when she heard Grumman call for them to enter.

"Good afternoon, Führer Grumman," Hawkeye said, saluting alongside Edward, Alphonse and Havoc, once they entered behind Samantha.

"Good afternoon. Thank you, Samantha," Grumman said, nodding to his secretary. She took the hint and left the office, closing the door behind herself. "I have some news for you and a task I need you to do," Grumman told them, gesturing for them come and stand in front of his desk.

"So, what's the news?" Ed asked once they were gathered in front of his desk. Al hissed at him but Ed didn't look overly perturbed by the reprimand. Grumman didn't seem to mind the brusque question.

"The news is that former Brigadier General Mustang is no longer considered a former Brigadier General. His release has been made official and that leads me to the task I require you to carry out for me. The newly-reinstated Brigadier General Mustang will be released within the hour and I would like the four of you to meet him at the holding cells and escort him back here to my office," Grumman told them, suppressing a grin of his own at the exuberant smiles on almost everyone's faces. Hawkeye managed to contain her own excitement to just a smile.

"Thank you for allowing us to be the ones to do this, Sir," Hawkeye said, bowing her head slightly.

"You're welcome," Grumman said. "I would imagine that you would like to get going. I've ordered General Mustang to be released as soon as you arrive down at the holding cells," Grumman told them.

"Thank you, Sir. We will take our leave now, if that is alright by you?" Hawkeye asked and Grumman nodded before waving them towards the door. The four of them saluted before heading for the office door when Grumman waved them out of the salutes.

"Leaving already?" Samantha asked as she watched them file out of the inner office.

"Yes, but we will be back shortly to speak with Führer Grumman once more," Hawkeye told her.

"Then I suppose I will see you shortly," Samantha said, with a small knowing smile.

"Yup. See you soon, Miss Samantha!" Ed called as they headed for the main office doors.

"Bye, Edward," Samantha called just before the door shut behind them.

* * *

They forced themselves to walk casually along the path to the holding cells so they wouldn't draw too much attention to themselves. Ed could feel the Lions' excitement being held back as much as they could through their bond. Ever since the first visit Ed had made to the holding cells when the Lions reestablished their link with him, they had been saddened to see Mustang in the cell. Knowing that this time would be the last time that they had to see that made them happy, despite their personal feelings about the man.

There was no talking or laughter between them as they walked and in no time at all it seemed that they were walking up the front steps of the building, nodding a greeting to the guard stationed out the front of the entrance. They went to the sign-in desk but were surprised when the guard stationed there didn't slide over the paperwork to them.

"Brigadier General Mustang will be escorted from the cell to you here," the soldier informed them.

"Would you mind having one of the guards take this bag to the general?" Hawkeye asked, gesturing for Al to hand the bag over.

"Of course not, Captain Hawkeye," the soldier nodded before beckoning a guard over after quickly checking the contents of the bag. "Give the bag to Warrant Officer Carter there. He'll give it to General Mustang before escorting him out here." Al did as he was told and Carter took it with a nod before heading down the hallway.

The group of them couldn't follow the guard so they didn't have any other option but to wait at the front desk. The Lions in Ed's mind were unimpressed with the wait and kept pestering Ed for a time frame for when Mustang would be released. Ed was growing steadily more annoyed with them as the seconds passed before asking them to keep it down so he didn't get a headache.

"_**I didn't think you were this fond of Mustang,"**_ Ed teased when the Lions settled down at his request.

"_We're not. We just don't like seeing him in jail for something he didn't do. We don't dislike him _that_ much,"_ Green told him, a little huffily. Ed snorted with laughter and it wasn't until he noticed the other's raised eyebrows that he realised he'd done so out loud.

"Just remembered something funny," Ed muttered, appeasing the soldier at the sign-in desk but everyone looked at him knowingly. _**"You guys are gonna get me locked in an asylum one of these days,"**_ Ed muttered, making sure to speak telepathically this time.

"_You wouldn't change us though,"_ Green said, a little too smugly. Ed rolled his eyes but couldn't deny that. The Lions' smugness level ratcheted up to a whole new level but Ed decided to ignore them.

Suddenly, Hawkeye and Havoc were standing at full attention while Al stood straight-back in a respectful manner and Ed peered around to find the reason why. Mustang was striding down the hallway, dressed in full uniform, minus his hat, with his hands free and flanked by two guards. The overnight bag Al had packed for him must've contained a comb or something because his hair looked artfully messy like it normally would rather than the tangled mess it had been last time Ed saw him. Said bag was slung over one of his shoulders, looking sad now that it no longer held anything. The bruise Ed had given him was now turning an ugly shade of yellow and green, not standing out as much against his skin as it had done so when it was fresh.

"It's good to see you four," Mustang greeted as he came to a stop in front of them.

"It's good to see you as well, General Mustang, Sir," Hawkeye greeted, snapping a perfect salute, Havoc mimicking her by her side.

"It's good to see you out of that cell, Sir," Alphonse greeted, smiling at Mustang, who returned the smile.

"I must admit it is nice being out of the cell, Alphonse," Mustang said, a half-smile on his lips.

"Personally, I think that cell suited you," Ed said, shrugging his automail shoulder. Mustang's face had a flash of irritation on it before he managed to smooth it over.

"Maybe you should see how it suits you, Fullmetal," Mustang said, faux pleasantness in his voice.

"Nah, I've already tried the Fort Briggs ones and didn't fancy it," Ed drawled back.

"If you'll excuse my interruption, Sirs, but Führer Grumman is expecting us back in his office soon," Hawkeye informed them, effectively putting a stop to any banter that could happen.

"Of course, Captain Hawkeye. We shouldn't keep Führer Grumman waiting," Mustang said. "Let's go," he ordered.

"You _do_ remember they're technically still _my_ team, right? I mean, you haven't been completely reinstated until we go and talk with Führer Grumman," Ed pointed out causally.

"That is technically correct," Hawkeye agreed, causing Mustang to look slightly betrayed and worried for a moment. Ed valiantly tried not to let his amusement show while Al rolled his eyes at his brother and Havoc coughed suspiciously.

"But Mustang is right, _for once_. We should go meet with the Führer," Ed told them. Mustang blustered for a moment or two before following the group of four when they started leaving, lest he be left behind.

"That was mean, Brother," Al whispered, admonishing Edward.

"I know but it was funny! Did you see his face?" Ed whispered back gleefully as they passed the soldier guarding the entrance to the holding cell building.

"I hope you haven't taught my team any of your bad habits, Fullmetal," Mustang scowled as he walked between Hawkeye and Havoc.

"Please, you and I both know the team really belongs to Captain Hawkeye," Ed told him. Mustang couldn't argue his point because he wasn't wrong. "Besides, I think the team worked great while you were on your mini-vacation," Ed said.

"I was in a jail cell, not on some beach somewhere!" Mustang protested.

"Edward does have a point though, Sir," Hawkeye said before Ed could retaliate. "The team has been working exceptionally smoothly whilst you were indisposed. They even managed to stay on top of their work while I was being held captive and consequently hospitalised. I would certainly hate to see any member of the team not be able to stay up to the standards set during the time that they were under Edward's command, including the standard we saw from the team leader," Hawkeye said, voice taking on a dangerous edge as she gripped her favourite pistol a little too tightly for anyone's comfort.

"I'm sure we'll manage," Mustang gulped, eyeing Hawkeye's hand before relaxing a little when it moved away from her holstered weapon.

"This'll be great," Ed said, grinning widely as he led everyone towards Grumman's office to get everything back to the way it should be.

A/N- And here is chapter 26! Yay for Mustang being officially released out of that cell! To everyone who reviewed the last chapter, thank you so much and I am sorry I never replied to them any earlier. This week was very hectic for me and all my spare time has been used to try and get chapter 34 for Spirit Animals written but it has been kicking my butt. For those who are invested in Spirit Animals, fear not. This story will be finished and I will conquer this damned chapter even if it takes me a while. But back to 'Welcome to Amestris, Agents', thank you for the reviews and many many thanks to PhoenixQueen for her fabulous work on this chapter! I'll see you all next week and I would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter in the meantime :)


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric." The use of his title had Ed snap his attention to the speaker, an order for them to not use his title on his lips when he recognised the person addressing him.

"Good afternoon, Lieutenant General Armstrong," he greeted, complete with a salute. They were currently standing in one of the corridors a few turns away from Grumman's office. Armstrong, Ed deduced, must've had her meeting with the Führer and was on her way out when she noticed them.

"General Armstrong, you look as lovely as ever," Mustang greeted, amusement glinting in his eyes at the irritated twitch of her lips.

"Mustang. I see you've been released," Armstrong stated, nodding at everyone to drop their salutes. Her expression told everyone she wasn't exactly thrilled by this fact.

"Yes, I have. I believe I have you to thank for that, at least in part. If someone had asked my opinion, I would have said that, given the opportunity to point a finger at me as your attacker, you would have taken it. Maybe you like me more than you are willing to admit," Mustang smirked and Armstrong's eye twitched.

"You do know that if she kills you, we'll help her hide your body and clean up the evidence, right?" Ed asked conversationally. Havoc and Al didn't deny Ed's words but, Mustang was more concerned by the fact that not only did Hawkeye not reprimand Ed in any way for what he said but that Armstrong's lips twitched in an aborted smile.

"I would never be foolish enough to kill a man for my own personal gain in full view of others, Lieutenant Colonel Elric," Armstrong snapped but Mustang was a little surprised that the response lacked the venom he would've expected.

"Of course not, Lieutenant General Armstrong," Ed said respectfully.

Armstrong looked pleased with his attitude while Mustang was stunned. To be fair, he hadn't witnessed Ed around the eldest Armstrong sibling except for during Promised Day and it's not like they really had a chance to chit-chat during the fighting. But he couldn't help the small flare of jealousy at the respect that his subordinate was giving Armstrong, when it was like having teeth pulled to get Edward to show _him_ even a modicum of respect.

"Are you healing well, Lieutenant General Armstrong?" Hawkeye asked.

Mustang wasn't surprised that Armstrong didn't bite Hawkeye's head off for asking, as she would have had anyone else posed such a question to her. The two women had always had a healthy respect for each other that granted one the power to be a bit more personal with the other than what anyone else was normally granted.

"I am. I trust you're expected to make a full recovery as well?" Armstrong said, glancing at her casted arm.

"Yes, General. My doctors have already cleared me to resume the bulk of my duties," Hawkeye told her and she nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. Central can't afford to lose any soldiers of your calibre," Armstrong said.

"Thank you, General," Hawkeye nodded. Armstrong turned her attention to Edward after giving Hawkeye a sharp nod.

"I trust you haven't forgotten our agreement, Lieutenant Colonel Elric?" Armstrong asked, her voice promising violence if he had.

"Not at all, General," Ed said, shaking his head. "Al and I are leaving for Resembool in the morning to see the consultants off home, but we should be returning two days later. If you're agreeable, I can call Major Armstrong before we're due to arrive in Central and he can give you an idea of our arrival time?" he suggested, hoping she wouldn't take offence to it.

"I suppose that will be sufficient. I'm sure I'll have a few hours spare that day to talk to you in length about your adventures. Inform my brother of your expected arrival and I will make arrangements to speak with you once you arrive. If, for whatever reason I cannot talk to you the day you are due back in Central, I will talk with you the morning after," Armstrong informed him matter-of-factly.

"I will. Thank you, Lieutenant General Armstrong," Ed said, nodding.

"Very well. I'll take my leave now. Unlike _some_ who are content to spend their days lazing about and flirting, I have many things that require my attention, even here in Central." Armstrong didn't look at Mustang when she spoke but it was plainly obvious by her words, if not her tone, who she was talking about.

"Have a good afternoon, Lieutenant General Armstrong," Hawkeye said, snapping a salute. Edward, Havoc and Mustang did the same, as did Alphonse. She nodded to them, releasing them from their salutes, before striding away from them without glancing back.

"It's nice to see the head injury didn't affect her winning personality," Mustang drawled.

"You're just jealous because people respect her more," Ed snarked. "We should be head to Grumman's office, since he's waiting on us," Ed said before Mustang could retaliate. "Let's go," he said, shooing the others in the direction they'd been heading before their chat with Armstrong.

"You do realise you aren't in charge of me, even if you still are _technically_ in charge of my team," Mustang pointed out and Ed levelled him with one of the most unimpressed glares that Mustang had ever seen.

"You're welcome to stay here, but since this meeting is to reinstate you, you might want to reconsider," Ed told him flatly. Mustang grumbled but followed behind the group as they followed Ed's lead, ignoring the way his Lieutenant and Captain looked far too amused, in his opinion.

* * *

It didn't take them very long to reach the Führer's outer office doors since they had run into Armstrong not too far from it. Ed was first through the doors and first to greet Samantha upon their arrival. As he was the last through, Havoc closed the outer office doors behind them.

"Hello again, Edward," Samantha smiled prettily. "I see you were successful in your task," she said, glancing at Mustang, smile twitching downward slightly before perking up again when she looked back at Edward.

Mustang didn't take it personally; he'd always known Samantha had taken a dislike to him when he'd flirted with her during their first meeting after she'd been hired as Grumman's secretary. To be honest, Hawkeye had been very chilly towards him for the rest of that day. That had been when he started dampening down his instinct to flirt with any pretty woman when he first met them, at least when Hawkeye was around.

"Yes, we were. May we talk to Führer Grumman again?" Ed asked once they were in front of Samantha's desk.

"Of course," she told him. "His standing order that you are to be permitted into his office any time is still in effect, after all," she informed him.

"Huh, I thought he would've rescinded that order by now," Ed mused out loud.

Samantha gave him another smile but didn't say anything as she stood from behind her desk and headed for the doors that led to the inner office. She knocked, paused for a moment, and then pushed the heavy-set doors open, permitting them entrance inside. Ed and Al entered first, followed by Hawkeye and Havoc then finally Mustang.

"Ah, thank you, Samantha," Grumman said as he stood. Samantha nodded before heading back to her desk, shutting the doors behind her. "It's good to see you, Mustang," Grumman grinned, offering his hand for Mustang to shake, who took it gratefully.

"It's good to be out of that cell, Führer Grumman," Mustang told him, smiling broadly.

"I imagine it is," Grumman said, gesturing for them to head over to his desk. "There is some paperwork I need you to fill out so I can officially reinstate you to your rank of Brigadier General and move the team from Lieutenant Colonel Elric's command back to yours," Grumman explained.

"Come on, Mustang, you should be positively _thrilled_ at the prospect of getting back into the habit of signing papers," Edward teased, earning himself a glare from Mustang while Grumman winked at him before turning back to Mustang.

"I have the papers all ready. Lieutenant Colonel Elric, I'll need you to sign some papers, testifying that you're willingly transferring control of the team back over to Mustang," Grumman said. Mustang inwardly smirked. After spending nearly a week as him and having to deal with all of the paperwork that came with the job, surely Edward would be sick of paperwork by now as well.

"Sure thing. Where are the papers you need me to sign?" Ed asked, leaning one hip against the edge of Grumman's desk.

"That eager to get rid of us, chief?" Havoc asked teasingly.

"Captain Hawkeye is the only decent one out of the lot of you and you know it," Ed teased back, making Havoc let out a bark of laughter.

"Can't argue with that," he chuckled. Grumman pretended not to hear this going on as he sorted through the papers on his desk.

"Here you go, Edward. Just sign these papers and you'll no longer be in charge of the team," Grumman told him, laying some papers in front of the blond and handing him a pen. Edward signed each paper before handing them back over to Grumman.

"There you go. Do you need anything else from me?" Ed asked, spinning the pen between his automail fingers.

"No, the rest is for General Mustang to complete," Grumman told him and Ed handed the pen back. "If you wish, the four of you may wait in the outer office with Samantha while General Mustang completes his paperwork," Grumman offered as he placed a sizeable stack of papers in front of Mustang.

"I would like to be permitted to stay, Führer Grumman," Hawkeye requested and Grumman nodded in agreement.

"That would be fine," Grumman told her before looking at the others questioningly.

"I'm waiting out there with Samantha. That would be infinitely more entertaining than watching Mustang try to act entertained by paperwork," Ed said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the doors.

"I'll wait outside as well," Alphonse said and Havoc nodded in agreement.

"Very well. I don't believe that I'll need to talk to the three of you once General Mustang is finished in here so I'll bid you a good afternoon now," Grumman said.

"See you later, Grumman," Ed said. "Mustang's shouting us all dinner if you want to join us tonight," Ed told him.

"I'm doing what?!" Mustang demanded, sputtering from where he stood.

"Thank you for the invitation, Edward, but I'm afraid I won't be able to join you tonight. I've already promised my wife I'll be home in time for dinner with her," Grumman told him with a polite smile, ignoring Mustang for the moment.

"No worries. Catch you later than, Grumman," Ed said, offering a salute then a cheery wave when Grumman dismissed him. Al and Havoc offered their own salutes and goodbyes before the three of them left the office.

"Leaving so soon?" Samantha asked once the doors shut behind the three men, though she frowned when she noticed two members of their group were missing.

"Nah, not yet. Mustang and Hawkeye are still talking with the Führer so we're gonna wait here, if that's not an inconvenience to you, Miss Samantha?" Ed asked, a little worried they might not be able too.

"Of course it's not, Edward. Make yourselves comfortable," Samantha said, smiling brightly as she gestured to the couches behind them.

"Thank you," Ed and Al said at the same time while Havoc dipped his head in gratitude. The three of them settled themselves comfortably on the couches and readied themselves for a long wait.

* * *

"Whenever you're ready, Mustang, so are the papers," Grumman said, breaking Mustang out of his stunned silence after Ed's announcement about the dinner plans. Grumman hid an amused smile as Mustang visibly shook himself from his thoughts and moved to sit in one of the chairs on the other side of Grumman's desk. Grumman slid the paperwork over to him and placed the pen Edward had used on top of it.

"Not even an hour out of the cell and I'm doing paperwork," Mustang groused as he picked up the pen.

"I suggest you get used to it, Sir," Hawkeye told him calmly. Mustang would've pouted a little if Grumman wasn't in the office.

Truth be told, it didn't take Mustang very long to complete the paperwork Grumman had put in front of him. For the most part, they were forms dictating that he was to be reinstated to the rank of Brigadier General, that he acknowledged that his release from prison happened when the documents said it happened and that he'd received back any belongings that had been on him at the time of his arrest and that his team would be back under his command. There was minimal conversation between Hawkeye and Grumman while Mustang worked.

"That's the last one, Führer Grumman," Mustang said, signing the piece of paper with a flourish and pushing the stack back towards Grumman.

"Very good," Grumman said as he accepted the stack and started going through it, checking it was all in order. Despite knowing that it was, Mustang couldn't help the small amount of nerves he was feeling as he watched the Führer check everything. He noticed the barest amount of tension in Hawkeye's frame, telling him she was also slightly worried.

Finally, Grumman flipped to the final page, checked it and placed it aside before standing up and offering a relieved Mustang his hand. "Congratulations, Brigadier General Mustang. You have been officially reinstated into the military with no repercussions. Any pay that was owed to you during your detainment will be in your next pay packet. You are also officially in charge of your team once again, taking command back from their temporary leader, Lieutenant Colonel Elric. As today is nearly over and your team has – under Lieutenant Colonel Elric's order – completed all of their designated work, I am granting you and the entirety of your team the rest of the day off." Mustang glanced at Hawkeye, who seemed as startled as he was at this news, though she did a very good job at hiding it.

"Thank you, Führer Grumman. I'm sure I speak for all of my team when I saw that we appreciate the kind gesture," Mustang said, dipping his head slightly.

"I'm sure you do. I understand Lieutenant Colonel Elric has plans to take his brother and the team of foreign agents to his hometown tomorrow," Grumman said. Hawkeye immediately nodded.

"Yes, Sir. Lieutenant Colonel Elric has already asked me to procure their tickets for the train tomorrow morning," Hawkeye informed him. "In fact, Sir, Lieutenant Colonel Elric and I were hoping to ask you for permission to book myself and General Mustang tickets to accompany them on the train," she told him. Grumman raised a brow before leaning back in his chair contemplatively.

"Would it just be the two of you joining them and how long would you require?" Grumman asked.

"It would be, Sir, and I believe Lieutenant Colonel Elric has no plans to stay away from Central for more than three days. One day to travel, one day for automail maintenance and to say goodbye to our foreign friends and one day to travel back," Hawkeye told him. Grumman thought for a few moments while Mustang tried to figure out when exactly he himself was informed of this decision.

"Very well. I will grant you, General Mustang and Lieutenant Colonel Elric three days leave, starting tomorrow morning. You may still have the afternoon off, like I originally said." Grumman paused for a moment, seemingly considering something. "Before I dismiss you, there is another matter I would like to address that concerns you, Mustang," Grumman said.

"Yes, Sir?" Mustang asked, focusing all his attention on Grumman.

"I'm not sure whether you know this or not but you are considered to be the top candidate to replace Major General Andrews," Grumman divulged. "General Andrews' team has been running under the temporary supervision of Andrews' second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel Eloise Lambert, and while she is doing an impressive job, she does not have the necessary qualifications to take on the position permanently."

Mustang nodded. He knew Lambert, naturally, and knew she was a competent soldier but he also knew that she had no desire to assume Andrews position so early in her career, nor did she have the necessary rank to be expected to take on supervision of an entire elite branch of the military.

"While I would certainly like to, I cannot offer you the position outright. There are a few other people who would be suitable for the position that I need to interview as well," Grumman explained.

"I understand, Führer Grumman," Mustang said, side-glancing Hawkeye to try and gauge her reaction to what Grumman was saying. As usual, she gave nothing away unless you knew what to look for and Mustang could tell she was a little confused about why Grumman was telling them this.

"I will be conducting those interviews during your leave over the next three days and I will have made a decision by the time you return. But I would like you to know that whoever is given Major General Andrews' position will also assume command of his team," Grumman told them.

Mustang saw his surprise reflected in Hawkeye's eyes and he knew she had assumed the same thing. Since anyone in a high enough position to be considered for Andrews' job would've had their own team already, Mustang had assumed Andrews' team would be disbanded and absorbed into different parts of the military. Grumman suddenly clapped his hands together and smiled at them. "I think that's enough business talk for one day. I promised you three and a half days off and I imagine you'd like to get started with that so you are dismissed General Mustang, Captain Hawkeye," Grumman told them cheerily.

"Thank you, Führer Grumman," Mustang said as he stood and saluted. Hawkeye did the same by his side and he relished in the feeling of being able to so once more.

"I do have one favour to ask of you though," Grumman said, a little apologetic at stopping them from leaving. "I would like to be able to thank the BAU team personally, so if you wouldn't mind staying in your office for the next hour, I should be free by then to duck in and say hello," Grumman requested.

"Of course, Führer Grumman. I'm sure no one would mind that," Mustang told him and he nodded gratefully.

"Thank you," Grumman said. "Also, I do expect you to report back to me once you've all arrived back in Central, including Edward," Grumman told them and they nodded. "Excellent. Enjoy yourselves in the meantime. I believe you have a celebratory dinner to be planning," Grumman said, hiding his grin at Mustang's scowl.

"That we do. Thank you for your time, Führer Grumman, and we will see you later this afternoon," Hawkeye said with another salute that Mustang matched and Grumman waved them both out of.

"I'll see you later," Grumman said, obviously dismissing them. Mustang and Hawkeye nodded before turning to the set of doors and leaving through them.

* * *

"So are you officially reinstated into the military yet or do I have to keep showing you up at your own job?" Edward asked as soon as he spotted Mustang and Hawkeye leaving Grumman's inner office. Samantha made a suspicious coughing noise from behind her desk as Mustang glared at Ed.

"Brother," Al sighed tiredly from where he sat.

"Tell me I'm wrong," Ed challenged and Alphonse sighed once more but didn't raise an argument, causing Ed to grin triumphantly.

"Führer Grumman has granted General Mustang and me three days leave to accompany you to Resembool. He will be paying us a visit later today to give his gratitude to the team of consultants for their work on this case but he has granted us the rest of the afternoon once he has been by. Yes, Havoc," Hawkeye looked pointedly at the lieutenant who had just been about to open his mouth to say something, "the afternoon off is for the entire team," she told him and he pumped his fist in victory.

"Always liked Grumman better than the rest of the generals," Havoc grinned. Hawkeye didn't roll her eyes but everyone could tell she wanted too.

"I suggest we head to the office, General Mustang. The rest of the team and our foreign friends are waiting for us," Hawkeye prodded Mustang, who nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea. Let's go," Mustang ordered. Ed rolled his eyes as he stood up.

"Not even an hour of freedom and he's giving orders already. Is it too late to put him back in the cell?" Ed muttered to Havoc who squeezed his flesh shoulder lightly.

"'Fraid so, chief," Havoc murmured back with amusement and he chuckled when Ed sighed in disappointment. Havoc outright laughed when Mustang shot Ed a suspicious and nasty glare that only darkened at Havoc's reaction.

"Thought so," Ed grumbled before giving Samantha a bright smile. "Bye, Miss Samantha," he said as they started heading for the doors.

"Bye, Edward. Enjoy your time off," Samantha called back as she gave the group a wave. Alphonse called out his own goodbye to the Führer's secretary as they went through the doors and Samantha barely managed a response before the doors shut behind the group.

* * *

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Ed snarled as two unfortunately familiar faces approached them only a corridor away from Grumman's office. "Can't I go one day without seeing your damned faces?" Ed asked rhetorically, throwing his automail arm up in exasperation.

"Easy, Fullmetal," Mustang said, resting a hand on Ed's automail shoulder lightly as he took in the displeased faces of General Combes and General Widdon as the two men came to a stop in front of them. "I imagine they're still trying to recover from the utter humiliation they've recently suffered at having been proven spectacularly wrong about my guilt," Mustang said coolly.

"Yeah, well, maybe if they'd at least tried to do their jobs properly rather than abuse their positions, they might have come through with a little bit of dignity intact," Ed sneered and the two generals bristled at the insult.

"Brigadier General Mustang, it is a pleasure," Widdon looked remarkably like he was sucking on a piece of lemon as he said that word, "to see you. General Combes and I would like to express our deepest apologies for any suffering you've faced during your imprisonment but I am sure you understand that we were only doing our jobs and trying to bring justice and peace to the families and friends of the victims," Widdon went on saying though he didn't look particularly pleased at what he was saying.

"I didn't realise that you knew the word 'apology' even existed, let alone what it means," Ed snarked.

"Lieutenant Colonel Elric, we may not be able to give you orders, as per the clause in your contract, but you would do well to show us the respect our position entitles us, especially in front of your commanding officer," Widdon snarled.

"Holy shit; did you actually just get my rank right?" Ed asked in mock-astonishment. "I don't know if you've noticed – and with the observational skills you've shown so far, I seriously doubt you have – but I don't give people respect unless they've earned it. For example, Captain Hawkeye, Führer Grumman, Lieutenant Colonel Brookes; they have all _earned_ my respect. Mustang's earned some of it but the two of you? You've earned fuck-all," Ed snapped. Both generals puffed up, anger oozing out of their pores.

"Settle down, Fullmetal," Mustang ordered, stepping forward and slightly in front of Edward, his hand dropping from Ed's shoulder as he did so, though Ed barely noticed considering he was more confused by Mustang stepping in front of him. "You'll have to forgive him. He tends to get snappish if he doesn't get enough caffeine in his system," Mustang drawled. Ed huffed but didn't say anything.

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he's an impertinent bas-" Combes started growling but Mustang cut him off.

"I suggest you watch how you talk to my subordinate, General Combes." Mustang didn't _quite_ snap but there was definite ire and a hint of protectiveness in his voice. His tone certainly caused the two generals to bristle once more. "Now, I understand that you've had a rough day, considering that I have been proven completely innocent of the crimes you swore I was guilty of until you were blue in the face. Because of that fact, I'm willing to overlook that little slip just this once. However I had better not witness it or hear of it happening to any of my team or I'll take the appropriate action against the two of you," Mustang informed them icily.

"Are you threatening us?" Combes asked, sounding genuinely shocked that Mustang would do something like that.

"Of course not, General Combes," Mustang laughed slightly. "I'm merely enlightening you of what would happen should you try speaking to any of _my_ subordinates like that again," Mustang told him with a smirk. "As entertaining as this has been, I have better things to be doing with my time now that I've had my name cleared and I'm sure the two of you have more conspiracy theories to cook up," Mustang said with an air of finality.

"While the two of you do that," Ed said, moving to stand next to Mustang, "just remember what I said about Elrics holding grudges. You've shown your hand by trying to push to have Mustang executed and _now_ we know you have something to hide; something you know Mustang would've reported you for if he decided to go digging into the two of you, like he did Henley. Just something to keep in mind," Ed shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly.

"We have nothing to hide. We are loyal to the military and our Führer. We would never do anything to betray either of them nor would we do anything to dishonour them," Widdon claimed snootily and Ed didn't bother stopping his snort of disbelief.

"Oh, like how you totally honoured the military with your temper tantrum at the hospital in front of Lieutenant General Armstrong's doctor and family or like how you honoured the military when you tried to use emotional blackmail on Lieutenant General Armstrong to get her to name Mustang as her attacker?" Ed asked sarcastically. "I mean, those are just the examples I'm coming up with off the top of my head but I'm sure there's plenty of other examples we could find if we looked hard enough."

"Those were simple misunderstandings caused by the pressure put on us to find the person responsible for the heinous crimes that had been committed and we have already apologised for our behaviour," Widdon ground out.

"And I bet those apologies nearly caused your pride physical pain," Ed snarked back. "Not to mention caused bruises to your egos when you realised you couldn't bully anyone into naming Mustang as the criminal." Both generals faces were turning intriguing shades of red and purple as they struggled to stop themselves from exploding at Ed, knowing it wouldn't end well for them with Mustang standing right there.

"As I said, Generals, we have things to do this afternoon and you seem to be on your way to a meeting with Führer Grumman. We certainly wouldn't want you to waste any more of his precious time so we'll take our leave now," Mustang said, smoothly cutting in before the generals could say anything to Ed.

"And what, Brigadier General Mustang, do you mean by 'waste any more of his time', exactly?" Widdon asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Just that I'm sure he's seen enough of the two of you, what with the numerous times you were in his office trying to push him into having me placed in front of a firing squad as quickly as possible," Mustang told them like it was obvious. "I'll give you a bit of free advice though, before we go our separate ways," Mustang said, taking a step forward. "The Elrics may hold one hell of a grudge but so do Mustangs. This little stunt of yours has backfired and you've managed to piss off all three of us. So, I'd suggest, with all due respect – as little as it may be – that the two of you tread lightly," Mustang said, keeping his voice low and conversational before stepping back, putting himself level with Edward once more. "Now, we really must be going. Good afternoon, gentlemen," Mustang said, nodding his head slightly before stepping around them. The other four immediately followed his lead and not one of them looked back at the two generals as the group made their way towards Mustang's office.

* * *

After their unwanted and impromptu meeting with Widdon and Combes, the walk to the office was completely uneventful. Every soldier they did pass respectfully nodded and offered their congratulations or comments that they'd believed Mustang had been innocent all along. Mustang had thanked each of them before dismissing their salutes and the group moved along. It added several extra minutes to their walk but they finally made it back to the office. Mustang paused in front of his outer office door almost imperceptibly before grabbing the handle and opening the door as self-assured as he always would.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Mustang greeted everyone waiting in the office as soon as he opened the door, causing several people to jump and face the door.

"General Mustang!" "It's good to see you, Sir!" Several people cried out at once, causing everyone's greetings to become a jumbled mess.

"It certainly is excellent to see you without bars between us," Mustang said with a grin.

"I imagine it is," Hotch said, taking the few steps needed to reach Mustang and offer a hand for him to shake. "It's _very_ good to see you out of that cell, General Mustang," Hotch said sincerely as he shook Mustang's hand.

"I believe this might be a little overdue but I would like to take this opportunity, while we're all together, to thank each of you for your help in sorting out this mess and not only finding Belmont but clearing my name," Mustang said, straightening up a little and glancing at all of them. "I know that you were only doing what was expected of you and what you were trained for but you managed to pull off the seemingly impossible in less than a week and with major pushback and pressure placed on you. Lesser men and women would have given in, given up or simply not been able to achieve the same results as quickly as you did so thank you." Mustang bowed far more deeply than Ed had ever seen him do, even to a superior officer like Andrews or Grumman.

"There's no need to thank us, General Mustang," Rossi said. "Besides, we hear you'll be treating everyone involved in this case to dinner and drinks tonight. That'll be thanks enough," Rossi grinned, giving Ed a wink when Mustang's face pinched slightly.

"Yes, I heard about that. Has there been any decision as to where we're actually having this celebratory dinner?" Mustang asked, doing his level best to keep the annoyance at having this sprung on him out of his voice.

"Madame Christmas has extended an invitation to us to enjoy her hospitality," Rossi told him but before Mustang could answer, Hawkeye cut in.

"No, we can enjoy a nightcap at the Madame's bar but we will not be spending the whole night there. Some of our team are too young for that kind of establishment and I know that a couple of others certainly wouldn't enjoy the atmosphere," Hawkeye's tone left no room for argument.

"Ah yes, we certainly wouldn't want to corrupt anyone underage," Mustang said, smirking at Edward.

"Bastard. I've seen you drunk before, remember? That was enough to make me decide I'll never drink," Ed said, rolling his eyes. "I certainly never want to make that big a fool of myself." Mustang blustered slightly at most of the others had to cover up their amusement quickly.

"I'm sure we'll be able to find a restaurant suitable enough for everyone by tonight. Perhaps Sheska or Lieutenant Colonel Brookes can help us decide. I believe they're expecting a phone call to learn the details but I can call them and see whether they have the time to talk with us and help with the planning. Perhaps after Führer Grumman has paid us a visit?" Hawkeye asked and Mustang nodded.

"That would be excellent, thank you, Captain Hawkeye," Mustang said with a nod. "I imagine you plan to procure our tickets for tomorrow after you've made that phone call?"

"Yes, General Mustang," she confirmed.

"Where are you heading off to, General?" Fuery asked curiously.

"Ah, Captain Hawkeye and I will be accompanying Fullmetal, Alphonse and the BAU to Resembool tomorrow. We will be back in Central three days from today," Mustang told him. "Speaking of time off, Führer Grumman has been kind enough to grant us the rest of the day off to do as we please, so long as we remain in the office until he has visited in about an hour," Mustang told them. He felt himself grinning at the cheers from Breda and Fuery and the smile Falman allowed himself to show.

"So, what do we do to pass the time until the Führer's visit?" Morgan asked and Mustang smiled before walking over to a random chair and sitting in it.

"Why don't you all sit," Mustang said, gesturing to the empty chairs, "and we can talk about anything that happened during my time in that cell that I never got told. But first, I'd like to know something, Fullmetal," Mustang said, looking at Ed as he sat in between Morgan and his brother.

"What?" Ed asked, slightly curious. From the looks on some of the other's faces, they were curious as well.

"Have you told the BAU about our third adventure?" Mustang asked and Ed nodded.

"Yeah, showed them the tablet and everything. They know all about it," Ed told him.

"Good," Mustang said. "Because I want to know what Voltron had been up to while you were busy working the case," Mustang told him and Ed rolled his eyes.

"The Lions have already told me what they were up to," Ed paused for a moment, getting a glazed look in his eye for a moment before focusing back on Mustang. "They said I can tell you if I want to," Ed told him, leaning back in his chair comfortably.

"You know what I'd actually really love to know about those Lions?" JJ asked and both Ed and Mustang looked at her. Ed nodded for her to continue. "Why don't the Lions like Mustang?" She asked.

"I don't know. Either they haven't given Fullmetal a proper answer or he hasn't passed it onto me," Mustang told her, glancing at Ed, who merely rolled his eyes.

"They haven't given me a proper reason and you bloody well know it. Ever considered that maybe they just don't like you?" Ed retorted. He heard the mental equivalent of a throat being cleared in his mind and held up a finger to stop anything Mustang was about to say.

"_Actually, there is a reason,"_ Black admitted, causing Ed to frown.

"Are you going to tell me or just keep it at that?" Ed asked out loud before realising he'd done so. "Ah, Black's telling me they actually do have a reason for not liking you so much," Ed told Mustang.

"Well?" Mustang demanded, leaning forward slightly.

"Patience, bastard. They're thinking about telling me," Ed lectured, much to amusement of everyone around them.

"Well, tell them to think faster," Mustang muttered, causing Ed to scowl at him.

"Do you want them to tell you or not? If so, shut up," Ed snapped before turning his mind back to the Lions. _**"Sorry about him but you know he's hardwired to be an arsehole," **_Ed told the Lions, who had been sending waves of increasing annoyance through their bond while Mustang spoke. Now, though, it was replaced with amusement.

"_It's quite alright, cub. We're used to his attitude,"_ Black laughed in his mind.

"_**So, are you going to actually tell me why you never warmed up to Mustang that much?"**_ Ed asked. He could see everyone around him waiting intently, like they knew what he'd just asked the Lions.

There was some uncertainty through the bond. Ed waited, knowing that they would speak in their own time. Finally, Green gave him an answer. "_We don't mind telling you and Mustang, Ed, but it is probably something that should just be between the two of you and us, since there's some information that could be extremely personal and sensitive. If you want to tell the others later, that's up to you, but..."_

Edward thought about it for a moment. "They're willing to tell me, but they think it should be between just you and me, Mustang," he admitted after a moment. "If you really want to know, that is."

"Well, then let's go into my office, because I do want to know," Mustang said, indicating the door to his office. Edward shrugged and followed his commander into the other room, where they each took a seat on one of the couches.

"_**Okay, so we're alone. Why did you never like Mustang when we were helping you with Haggar and Zarkon?"**_ Edward asked.

"_I'm sure that you know that your bond with us allows us to see into your memories and, if you wished, you could see into ours as well?" _Blue asked and Ed nodded. This had been something the Lions had explained to him when he went back to Amestris. They hadn't told him before that he could look into their memories because they didn't think the bond would survive the distance between them.

"_We weren't sure whether what had happened to us when the bond was first initiated also happened to you. When Black first spoke to you, she initiated the bond between the two of you. Did you feel anything when she first spoke to you?" _Green asked and Ed's brow furrowed in thought as he tried to remember that first conversation.

_**"Other than the overwhelming confusion I felt at hearing someone else's voice in my head and the adrenaline rush I got from escaping Lance and Keith after our first meeting, I can't think of anything else," **_Ed told them honestly.

"_What about when the rest of us first spoke to you? Did you feel anything then?" _Blue pressed and Ed mentally shook his head after a few moments.

"_**No, I don't think so,**_" Ed said, a little confused about what they were asking. He felt the Lions sigh a little.

"_Alright, that doesn't matter. I believe that your other feelings overwhelmed the rush of partial memories you may have gotten from us at the time each of us first spoke to you. I'm sure that if you tried doing so now, you could find them somewhere in your memory,"_ Black told him. _"When we each first spoke to you, we initiated the bond. When you spoke back to us, you completed the bond. When that happened, each of us was given access to random snippets of your memories. Only two- or three-seconds worth of each memory,"_ Black explained and Ed felt his usual anger flare at knowing something had been kept from him but it was gone moments after he felt it. He knew the Lions would have told him if they'd known he hadn't known.

"_**So, what does that have to do with Mustang?"**_ Ed asked, keeping the conversation telepathic for now.

"_Well, some of those tiny snippets showed Mustang,"_ Yellow told him.

"_And we weren't impressed by what we saw,"_ Red growled slightly. Ed felt like he knew where this was going now. _"We may have used those snippets to form our original opinion of Mustang. Though, in our defence, he didn't make a stellar first impression so our opinion didn't change much,"_ Red told him.

"Have they told you anything yet?" Mustang asked, distracting Ed from the Lions for a moment.

"No, not yet. They've been explaining some stuff about the bond. They got to see small portions of my memories and some of what they saw had you in them," Ed explained. "Whatever they saw, plus your not-so-shining first impression on them, didn't give them a high opinion of you," Ed said.

"What did they see in your memories?" Mustang asked and Ed shrugged.

"Dunno yet," Ed told him. "Don't be pushy or they won't tell you at all," Ed pointed a warning finger at Mustang before he could open his mouth. Mustang's jaw tightened in annoyance, but he remained quiet.

"_I think we've had enough fun keeping the answer from him,"_ Black laughed slightly although the other Lions groaned in fake protest.

"_**So, what exactly did you see in those memories that made you not like Mustang?" **_ Ed asked, wanting to know himself more than he had any other time.

"_A lot of the memories we saw were moments during arguments you and Mustang had in the past and we felt the echo of what you felt during them,"_ Blue explained. _"These moments wouldn't have affected us so much by themselves since everyone feels like they're not being listened to or taken seriously during some arguments but there were three specific moments we saw that solidified that opinion,"_ Black told him. Ed was confused now.

"_**Wait, what do you mean you all saw them? Did all of you see the same snips of memories when the bonds were initiated?"**_ Ed asked but felt Green shake her head immediately.

"_No, we shared the memories with each other. It wasn't really a conscious decision on our part; it was something we did out of habit,"_ Green said apologetically. Ed found himself not entirely angry at them for sharing his memories with each other. He understood what it was like to do something so often, it formed an automatic habit that you don't even notice until you find yourself in the middle of doing that same thing and realising you hadn't even made a conscious decision to do so.

"_**Alright, so what were those memories?"**_ Ed asked, feeling Mustang's impatient stare on him, but ignoring it from long habit.

"_Blue saw the first one. Red witnessed the second one and Yellow was the one who saw the third memory snippet,"_ Black told him. Ed could feel Black nudge her sisters forward mentally, making them share what they saw with Ed. The blond alchemist wasn't sure if their hesitation was because they wanted to keep the memories from him or because they wanted to continue dragging the joke of not telling Mustang out.

"_I saw the moment the two of you met for the first time," _Blue admitted and Ed shifted a little in his seat. _"I saw how angry he was before he realised what that rebound had done to you and Al. Even though it was a memory, I was terrified for you. I also felt the unbearable pain you were in and the fear and confusion you felt in those moments. I knew how young you were and that was part of the reason I was so angry at Mustang when we first met him,"_ Blue said, her voice more than a little subdued.

"Well, Mustang has always been a bastard, so you shouldn't really hold that against him," Ed said lightly, grinning when he heard Mustang's unflattering mutters at the insult.

"_Oh, we know and we don't hold that particular reaction against him anymore, especially considering we now know why he reacted like that but you have to look at it from our perspective,"_ Blue started saying. _"Remember, we only had a few moments of that memory to look at. From what we knew at the time, we saw a grown man lashing out at a child who had been severely injured very recently for no apparent reason,"_ she explained and Ed made a soft 'ah' of understanding.

"The first memory they saw was our first meeting. They weren't impressed by you, a grown man, yelling at me, a severely injured child, since they didn't know about our rebound," Ed told Mustang. He felt a slight satisfaction at the uncomfortable squirm Mustang did as he was reminded of it as well.

"Yes, well, is that the only reason?" Mustang asked, clearly uncomfortable with the looks.

"No, it isn't," Ed said before turning his mind back to the Lions. _**"What was the second memory?"**_

"_Technically, it was the combination of a few other memories that told us why this one stood out,"_ Green told him. _"We all saw different moments about times you spent with Maes Hughes and his family. We felt how much you cherished that time with him, how much you admired and respected him, even though he annoyed you sometimes. We felt how much you loved him, like one should love their father or uncle." _Ed knew his face probably showed his sorrow so he schooled his expression as he listened to the Lions.

"_I saw the two memories that were made significant by those moments,"_ Red told him. _"The first one I saw was Mustang telling you Hughes and his family had moved to the country. That was all I saw but I felt your confusion, your hurt at not being told by Hughes himself and that small part of you that felt like you had been proven right about people abandoning you,"_ Red said and Ed could feel her slight wince at her blunt wording. _"The second memory I saw was the soldier, Lieutenant Ross, telling you that Hughes hadn't moved to the country but that he had been murdered. I felt the moment you realised Mustang had lied to you before it was overtaken by your grief,"_ Red's voice went quiet and sad by the end of her statement.

"_Our opinion of Mustang was affected by that because there was no good reason for him to lie to you about something as important as that, especially since the chances of you finding out the truth from someone else were so high,"_ Black explained softly. _"We thought he was being intentionally cruel or cowardly by not telling you himself and we couldn't help but wonder what else he lied to you about if he could lie about something like that." _Ed nodded in understanding. He had thought the exact same thing for months after finding out about Hughes' murder. He'd eventually exploded at Alphonse about something so insignificant he couldn't even recall what it had been the next day and his brother had realised that was his chance to figure out what had been plaguing Ed for those months. Edward wasn't even sure if Mustang knew how much Ed had distrusted him in those months – and sometimes still did, especially after their fight a few days ago.

"The second reason was a combination of two memories," Ed said, not meeting Mustang's eyes, not wanting his commander to see any of that lingering distrust and get the wrong idea. "Your lie about Hughes and how we found out about his death."

"Fullmetal..." Mustang started, but Edward didn't give him a chance to continue whatever he was about to say.

"There's a third memory so hold on a moment," Ed said quickly before focusing on the Lions again.

"_We're sorry about the tension this is causing between the two of you,"_ Blue said, sounding truly upset that this was causing some trouble between them.

"_**Don't be. Mustang wanted to know,"**_ Ed said a little more harshly than was probably warranted. The Lions didn't comment on it though and Yellow was the next to speak.

"_Like Red saw, the final reason for our dislike was formed because of a few snippets. I saw most of them but Green saw the rest and when we shared the memories, we realised how these memories connected,"_ Yellow started explaining. _"We saw your memories of seeing in the newspaper that Lieutenant Ross was the one accused of killing Maes Hughes and we felt your absolute shock and stubborn insistence it couldn't have been her who did it. Then we saw the memory of you walking onto the scene and believing that Mustang had just used his alchemy to kill her. We know,"_ Yellow said sternly, cutting off Ed's comment that it hadn't actually been Ross, _"it wasn't her but __**you**__ didn't know that at the time so for all intents and purposes, you just witnessed your boss murder one of your friends in front of your eyes."_

"_I saw him punch you right after that. I felt your pain, both physical and emotional, as well as your sense of betrayal and your completely understandable hate and fear of Mustang,"_ Green cut in smoothly.

Ed couldn't even offer a token protest that he'd never been scared of Mustang because Green was right. Ed had been terrified of Mustang in that moment. He hadn't admitted that to anyone, not even Al, nor had he told anyone about how he'd lost count of how many times he'd forced himself not to flinch any time Mustang moved near him. He'd tried to hide it with rage and righteous anger, but the fear had been there for a long time. He felt the Lions' understanding through the bond before Red spoke up.

"_Like Yellow said, we know he never actually killed Maria Ross but it was the fact that he made you __**think**__ he had taken her life – in front of you, no less – then punched you for being upset over it that made us angry at him,"_ Red explained, a slight growl in her voice. Ed knew he should've expected that memory to be one of the reasons as soon as the Lions revealed they'd seen snippets of his memory. They had proven to be very protective of him, almost as protective as they were of their own pilot, so it stood to reason that Mustang punching him would've been a big no for them.

Ed cleared his throat uncomfortably. "The third reason was because of what happened when you faked Ross' death," Ed told Mustang, forcing himself to meet the older man's eyes this time. "That's it, I think," Ed said before nodding his head. "Yeah, no, that's all of their reasons for not having a good opinion of you to start with." Ed wasn't really sure what else to say after that so he said nothing.

"Edward –" Mustang started, shifting a little guiltily. He seemed to want to say something more, but he finally fell silent.

"Look, Mustang, it was ages ago. I don't care anymore, because I understood your reasoning once Breda explained the plan to me, so can't we just forget about it?" Ed asked, cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment as he tried to get them to a different topic so they could forget about this quickly.

"Fullmetal – Edward – I owe you an apology. Both because I lied to you about Hughes' death and for punching you. I shouldn't have done either and I should have apologised a lot sooner than now. It shouldn't have taken this long and a reminder from the Lions that I needed too," Mustang said sincerely. "When we go out there, I'll apologise to Alphonse as well."

"Anyway, that's the reason, at least according to the Lions," Ed said awkwardly. "They said it's up to use to decide if we want to tell others or keep it between the seven of us. I don't really care if the others know, so it's up to you."

Mustang sat quietly for a few moments, thinking over the options. "We can tell them that they saw some of your memories and it negatively affected their initial opinions of me, but we don't have to get into the specific memories."

"Sure, that works," Ed said with a shrug. The people who needed to know about those memories – Alphonse, primarily, and Mustang's team – knew just enough to understand that Ed and Mustang hadn't always had the smoothest relationship.

"We should probably rejoin the others," Mustang added. "The BAU probably won't be here for very much longer and I would like to spend some time with them now that I'm no longer behind bars, plus the Führer should be here soon, and I still want to know what the Lions have been up to this week while your bond with them was muted."

Edward shrugged. "Okay. We can go back out there. That's all I had to say, and the Lions say there's nothing else." Both of them stood up and moved back out to the other office, where Mustang's team was talking with the BAU.

Mustang moved over to where Al was leaning against Havoc's desk and faced the younger teen directly. "Alphonse, I owe you an apology."

Alphonse seemed startled. "Um, okay. For what?"

"For when I lied to you and Fullmetal about Hughes' murder and for making you believe that I had killed Lieutenant Ross. I should have trusted the two of you with both pieces of information, and I hope the both of you can forgive me for my transgressions."

Ed huffed out a sigh of irritation that had Al rolling his eyes, before redirecting his attention back to Mustang. "Thank you, General Mustang. I forgave you a long time ago for lying to us," Alphonse told him with a genuine smile.

"What he said," Ed jabbed a thumb at his brother, "Pretty sure I got you back ten-fold for that anyways," Ed told him, tapping the right side of his jaw, indicating Mustang's own bruised jaw.

"Yes, I certainly think you did and this punch was completely deserved," Mustang said, wincing in memory of why exactly it was well deserved. Hawkeye hummed in agreement at that, surprising a lot of the others.

"So what did the Lions say?" JJ asked.

"When we first bonded, they saw some of my memories, which were taken out of context, and without knowing the whole story about everything that we had been through up until we met them, it negatively affected their initial impression of him," Edward explained. "Some of it is too hard to explain quickly."

"Now that we know why the Lions didn't like Mustang to start with, how about we find out what happened to have them ready to ask Edward to mute his bond with them?" Reid asked eagerly and Ed could've kissed the man for changing the subject.

The agents nodded in understanding, and Mustang took the chair behind Hawkeye's desk and everyone settled in.

"Wait," JJ said before Ed or anyone could say anything. "When did the Lions start liking Mustang?" she asked curiously.

"Ah, Black says for her it was after Mustang apologised for being an asshole before our sparring session," Ed told her. "Blue, Red and Green said that their opinion started changing during training sessions and just being around Mustang and seeing he wasn't quite like they first thought. Yellow likes him the most because he made sure Hunk was alright after our fight against Zarkon and Haggar." JJ nodded thoughtfully.

"So, do they like him now?" She asked and Ed prodded the Lions for an answer.

"They're pretty neutral about him," Ed told them, grinning at Mustang's pout. "They neither like nor dislike him at the moment but they don't dislike him enough to be happy about him being falsely imprisoned," Ed told them, repeating what Black was saying in his mind. JJ seemed satisfied now.

"Okay, so, why did the Lions readily accept you muting the bond? It must've been something extremely important since the lot of you were practically inseparable on the Castle-Ship and speak to each other pretty much every waking hour," Mustang asked, forcing the subject change and leaning back in his chair.

"_**You guys ready to share?"**_ Ed asked telepathically and felt each Lion growl affirmatively. "All right, so the first thing you should remember is that the day we left, the Alteans and Paladins were trying to map a route that would allow them to return all of the aliens who had been held prisoner by the Galra and Haggar to their home planets without too many trips doubling back." Everyone nodded and Ed continued.

"Two of their days before I found you guys in Resembool, Allura and Coran discovered that there was a cluster of planets nearby that were all still under the Galra's control. Despite none of the freed prisoners claiming any of the nine planets in the cluster as their home, Allura and the Paladins decided they couldn't risk leaving the planets only to return once all the liberated prisoners had been dropped home and finding the cluster destroyed or uninhabitable," Ed explained.

"Understandable. A lot can happen in a small amount of time on a battlefield and if your goal is to save as many as you can, you sometimes have to choose between whether you save the ones you've got or risk them to save the others and possibly lose them all," Rossi told them and Ed nodded.

"Exactly. Shiro made the argument that the Castle-Ship is well-protected so the current ex-prisoners on board shouldn't be put in too much danger. Keith had added to the argument that the Galra were currently drifting as they try and elect a new leader to replace Zarkon so they wouldn't be as organised as they could be," Ed went on saying. "It took them two days to come to an agreement with the other prisoners and come up with a battle plan. The Lions were planning on asking me if they could mute the bond a few hours before they were due to attack but I was on the train and asked them before they could," Ed said.

"What were they facing?" Mustang asked and Ed held up a finger as he listened to the Lions.

"_There were nine planets in total and each planet had been taken. The inhabitants of each planet weren't able to escape before the Galra arrived. Each planet had four large ships circling them, with hundreds of fighter ships assigned to a planet. There were three mother ships in total and Haggar had gifted two of the more difficult planets a Robeast each,"_ Black reported dutifully and Edward repeated her words verbatim.

"'Robeast'?" Prentiss asked and Ed nodded.

"From what I remember Lance, Pidge and Hunk telling me, they're robots that were designed by the Haggar with the sole purpose of either conquering a planet or trying to destroy Voltron. They're nasty things and Haggar apparently learned from each beast Voltron managed to destroy, making the next one that much more difficult," Ed tried to explain but he knew he probably wasn't doing it justice. He wished the Paladins had thought to put video of one on his tablet so he could see it for himself.

"Oh, so they're like the final boss on a level in a video game? And with each level you successfully pass, the more difficult the final boss is?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know what a video game is but that sounds kinda similar," Ed said, flinching as Green intruded on their bond for his attention. "Ouch! What, Green?" Ed asked, feeling the headache disappear immediately.

"_Sorry, Ed, I didn't mean to be so enthusiastic,"_ Green said sheepishly. _"Pidge wanted me to tell you that your friend is correct,"_ she told him and Ed thanked her.

"Green says that Pidge said you're right," Ed told Morgan, who grinned smugly.

"Of course I am," Morgan grinned before yelping when Prentiss hit him.

"Don't let it get to your head," she teased as Morgan exaggeratingly rubbed his bicep where Prentiss had hit him.

"How'd they manage to win?" Havoc asked, bringing the topic back to Voltron and its fight.

"Right, so they decided to merge together to create Voltron and wipe out the three mother ships and as many of the other ships as they could. Pidge managed to expand Green's cloaking to cover all of them so they were able to get as close as possible without any of the Galran spotting them. When they were in position, Pidge dropped the cloak and they managed to destroy one mother ship without too much hassle. Of course, they couldn't destroy the ship without creating noise so they soon found themselves fighting hundreds of single fighter pods and some of the bigger ships," Ed continued the story for them. "It took them a few hours but they managed to complete the first part of their plan and destroy the two remaining mother ships before retreating to the Castle-ship for repairs and to recover," Ed told them.

"Were they alright?" JJ asked and Ed nodded.

"The Lions are hard to damage and it's apparently even harder for the pilots to get badly hurt inside the cockpit. They suffered minor bruising and a couple of cuts and the Lions took a few good hits but they managed to patch them up within a few hours of them getting back to the Castle-ship," Ed assured her. "The next part of their plan was for Pidge and Coran to hack the Galra and send them a message telling them that if they surrendered peacefully and handed control of the captured planets back to their inhabitants, Voltron would let them leave. The Galra refused so they had to resort to their original plan. The Paladins rested for the remainder of the day and the night to get their strength back before they put their plan into action the next morning." Ed took a breath before continuing.

"The plan was for the five of them to go out together in the morning but not joined up into Voltron. They would take down the remaining large ships, merging into Voltron if needed, before retreating back to the ship. That took them all day to do but they destroyed the remaining ships that had survived the attack on the mother ships. They went back to the Castle-ship, recovered and went back out again the next morning after Coran and Pidge's offer to let them surrender once more was ignored," Ed told them. "They split up, one two-Lion team and one three-Lion team, with the Castle-ship acting as back up. The two-Lion team chose a planet to start trying to free while the other team did the same for another planet. None of these planets were very large ones so it didn't take the two teams long to finish with the two planets they chose, though Black _does_ want me to tell you that's also because the natives of each planet helped from the ground and once the tide turned in favour of Voltron, the natives basically took over freeing their home," Ed grinned at Black's insisting behaviour.

"It's good the planets' inhabitants were in good enough health to be able to help though. I bet that was a relief for the Paladins to find out," Fuery said and Ed nodded.

"Yeah, they were pretty surprised to see them, according to the Lions. They didn't know how long the planets had been under Galra control, after all, so I think most of them were expecting the worst-case scenario," Ed admitted. "But anyway, once the two planets were back in the natives' hands, the Paladins moved on to the next two planets. The same thing happened for each new planet; the Paladins would move in; the natives would join in on the fight then the Paladins would move on when the natives had the fight well in hand. They managed to free four planets during their first shift of fighting before Allura and Coran ordered them back to the ship to get food and rest."

"You know, I _still_ find it extremely hard to believe that you seriously went to space and fought alongside aliens and sentient Lion space-ships that you are still bonded to and can talk telepathically with," Morgan commented, causing the Amestrians to chuckle.

"It takes some time to get used to," Falman told him with a slight grin of amusement.

"I don't envy you guys trying to convince Miss Penelope about me and Mustang going to space," Ed grinned when Morgan groaned theatrically. "Anyway! Voltron managed to liberate seven of the nine planets with no problems. It took them another three days to do so and they destroyed hundreds, if not thousands, of Galran fighters in doing so. Pidge and Coran made the offer for them to surrender each morning but it was always ignored. On the fifth day of their assault – I think that was the same day we spent searching for Miss Riza – they ran into real trouble," Ed revealed.

"The Robeasts?" Reid asked and Ed nodded.

"Yup. The two-Lion team was the first to face theirs but it became immediately apparent they couldn't defeat it by themselves so they had to form Voltron to destroy it. Except, when they sent the call out to the other three members of the team, they found out they were facing their own Robeast," Ed told them. "Red and Yellow were the two-Lion team so Hunk called for the Castle-ship to act as their back-up, to try and better their chances. But even with the Castle-ship there with them, they couldn't take the Robeast down by themselves and they could hear through their comms that Blue, Green and Black were having their own problems taking their Robeast down. Keith and Hunk were finally able to escape their Robeast, thanks to what I'm told was some pretty nifty shooting from the Castle-ship and they made the decision to abandon the planet to aid Shiro, Lance and Pidge in taking their Robeast down. Their plan was to come back to the last planet and form Voltron to take that Robeast down afterwards," Ed explained, worried for a moment the others would think they'd abandon the plant permanently.

"Turns out Keith and Hunk were just in time to save Blue and Lance from what would've been a fatal hit," Ed told them. "The second Robeast had managed to swat Blue out of the air and slam her into the ground. When that happened, it affected her systems and made her sluggish to respond, basically similar to someone with a concussion," Ed explained so the teams would understand. "The Robeast had an ability to turn its appendages into something similar to steel and was about to stab Blue while it's other appendages kept Shiro and Pidge at bay and unable to help. I was told that where the Robeast was aiming, Lance would've been in the path and it's likely Blue's array that makes her who she is would've been destroyed. But Keith and Hunk appeared in the nick of time. Yellow has the thickest armour of all the Lions, and she managed to deflect the blow so it impaled the ground next to Blue, giving Lance and Blue enough time to recover and get back into the air." Ed heard the numerous sighs of relief from everyone around the table and a glance at Mustang showed him a relieved expression.

"Can you let Blue know I'm glad to hear that she and Lance are alright and to pass the message along to him, please?" Mustang asked and Ed nodded.

"She heard you and says she will," Ed dutifully passed Blue's reply along. "But back to the story," Ed said. "Lance and Blue re-joined the fight and the team were able to destroy the Robeast and give the planet back to its occupants before the Lions returned to the Castle-ship. Blue had suffered extensive damage and Lance was ordered into a healing pod so he would be able to join the fight to liberate the final planet the next day. Pidge, Hunk and Coran worked overnight to get Blue up and running at peak efficiency so she would be able to join them as well."

"After resting for the night and half the next day, since Lance hadn't been released from the pod until the next morning and apparently going into a healing pod makes you sleepy," Ed heard Blue's chuckle and just knew Lance was protesting Ed's teasing tone, "Voltron headed to free the final planet. The final Robeast had the help of the remaining Galra fighter ships so they had a full battle on their hands. Allura ordered Voltron to focus on the Robeast while she and Coran used the Castle-ship to take care of the couple hundred remaining Galran fighters. The battle took them the rest of the day but they managed to destroy the Robeast and the remaining fighters and completely liberate the entire cluster of planets without any more major injuries to either Paladin or Lion," Ed grinned before scowling slightly. "Of course, just a few minutes after they were told they'd completed the mission, the Lions re-established our bond and almost gave me a migraine." Everyone knew his irritated tone was aimed for the Lions and not them and they assumed, from the way Ed's features softened a little, the Lions were apologising once more.

"You know, I don't think I'll ever complain about my job again," Havoc said, grinning widely as everyone else laughed in agreement.

"I'll remember that," Hawkeye said sternly, though Ed swore he saw a flash of good humour in her eyes. Havoc looked like he wanted to take his words back and Ed wondered if he'd imagined the slight whimper that came from the blond man.

"I'm glad that everyone came out of the mission without any lasting injuries. I assume they've resumed their mission to help the former prisoners return home?" Mustang asked and Ed nodded.

"Yeah, they hung around the cluster of planets for a day or so to give the Castle-ship and her occupants time to recover and to make sure the planets were completely Galra-free," Ed told him. "They're currently on their way to the planet they had been heading for when they came across those nine," Ed said and Mustang nodded. No one else got the opportunity to comment on anything because there was a knock at the door.

"Enter," Mustang called. Ed had to suppress the urge to so the same. Apparently, he'd managed to form the habit to call for people to enter after only a few days.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Grumman greeted as he and two soldiers entered the office. Every member of Mustang's team, including Mustang himself was on their feet and saluting immediately. "There's no need for that. This is a friendly visit, after all," Grumman said lightly, waving their salutes away and sending the two soldiers who accompanied him to wait outside the closed door. "Firstly, I must apologise to you, Edward, and to Riza and Alphonse, as well," Grumman said, surprising everyone in the room, including Ed, Al and Hawkeye.

"Why?" Ed asked, looking at Hawkeye and Alphonse to see if they had any idea why Grumman would need to apologise to them specifically. Neither of them looked like they had a clue.

"I never asked any of you how you were healing during your previous visits to my office today," Grumman said and there was a sense of relief in the room that it wasn't anything bad. "I'm sorry for that. How are the three of you?" Grumman asked.

"Oh, well, its fine, Grumman, but I'm doing good. Haven't ripped any stitches yet, which might be a record for me," Ed said, a little awkwardly to start with but he was smirking by the end what he was saying. Al rolled his eyes.

"He's not even joking or wrong," Al sighed, causing the others to laugh and Grumman to smile in amusement, "but I'm doing well. Thank you for asking, Sir," Al said, giving Grumman a smile.

"As am I, grandfather," Hawkeye told him, not using his formal title since he hadn't used hers.

"I'm very pleased to hear that," Grumman said, giving the three of them genuine smiles before looking at the rest of the group. "The reason I am here today, however, is not solely to check on Edward, Alphonse and Riza but to extend my deepest gratitude to the six of you," Grumman said, nodding to the BAU. "I understand that you felt a sense of obligation to help Edward and the team to uncover the truth behind the crimes General Mustang was framed for but I still wish to thank you for helping them. Your expertise was invaluable to this investigation and while I have no doubts that under Edward's lead, this team would have eventually uncovered Belmont's identity, they likely wouldn't have been able to do so in the same time frame. In fact, I have found out from the soldiers in charge of Belmont's interrogation that she only attacked Alphonse and Riza when she did because she felt pressured by the six of you and how much you had already uncovered," Grumman revealed.

"Has Belmont been released from hospital?" Ed asked, wondering why he hadn't heard about it if she had been.

"No, she'll be required to stay in hospital until her stitches are removed to minimise her chances of ripping them however, she is no longer being sedated so she is able to be interrogated now. The soldiers in charge of her interrogation have been chosen by Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and he has been in the room with them for each interview," Grumman assured them, having noticed their worries looks. The relief was palpable in the room at the mention of Brookes.

"That's good to hear," Mustang said and Grumman nodded.

"I thought it would be," he said before turning back to the BAU. "As a token of my appreciation, I have something for all of you, and your missing team member," Grumman said, reaching into his inner jacket pocket and pulling out several sheets of papers. He handed one to each BAU member, giving the seventh piece of paper to Hotch.

"What are those, Führer Grumman?" Alphonse asked, leaning past Ed, both of them trying to look at Morgan's piece of paper.

"Those are official documents containing my signature and seal granting the person named on the document permission to be in Amestris. General Mustang and Edward will be adding their own signatures and seals to the document as well, in case the next time you pay us a visit I'm no longer Führer. I imagine General Mustang will still be in the military and perhaps even Edward, if he decides to renew his contract with us," Grumman said, giving Ed a pointed look.

"I haven't decided yet," Ed said, sinking a little in his seat. "It depends on some stuff," he admitted.

"Well, I'll be happy to talk with you about any concerns or conditions you might have, Edward. You're truly an asset to the military and we would suffer a massive loss if you did decide to discharge from us," Grumman said and Ed nodded in acknowledgement. "As I said, those documents prove that you are legally allowed in Amestris so you shouldn't be detained like you were when you arrived this time. I've included one for Miss Penelope Garcia, just in case she winds up here as well next time," Grumman explained. The BAU all read over their papers, making sure they understood everything written on them.

"This is an extremely generous gift, Führer Grumman. On behalf of my team, I would like to thank you for it," Hotch said, standing up and offering his hand to Grumman.

"There are conditions for those, though," Grumman warned them as he shook Hotch's hand. "You will not have the ability to move around Amestris freely. You'll need to find a member of the military and show them these papers. That soldier will then call either the Führer's office or Edward or Mustang and you will have to wait to be escorted by one of them or a member of their team. You will still be permitted to carry your weapons, should you arrive armed, but they will need to be logged with the military and a fired round given to ballistics so they have one on hand for comparison should you end up using your weapons. You will also only be granted the same kind of jurisdiction you were on this case, if you do end up working on a case here. I, however, should be the one thanking you, Agent Hotchner. This document doesn't seem like enough of a reward for everything you managed to do for us this week but it was the only thing I felt would be appreciated above all else. Please accept it with my deepest thanks," Grumman said.

"We accept it, Führer Grumman, but while it is appreciated, your thanks are not necessary. We were only doing our job and we would've done so for any of our friends," Hotch told him before gesturing his team to join them.

"Thank you, Führer Grumman," Rossi said, shaking Grumman's hand, having gotten what Hotch was silently asking them to do. The rest of the BAU agents followed suit before retaking their seats so they weren't crowding Grumman.

"You're most welcome. I have to take my leave now but I hope we meet again soon. Although, I sincerely hope the next time isn't because of something like this," Grumman said, half-joking.

"Yes, we hope so as well," Hotch agreed, eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Have a safe trip to Resembool tomorrow and I will see four of you in three days' time," Grumman said, looking pointedly at Ed, Al, Mustang and Hawkeye.

"Of course, Führer Grumman. Have a good day, Sir," Mustang said, saluting Grumman once he stood up. The rest of the Amestrians were quick to follow suit but Grumman waved them out of it almost as soon as they'd stood.

"Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, everyone," Grumman said before giving everyone a wave goodbye and leaving the office, closing the door behind him.

"Since when do I have a seal?" Ed asked as soon as Grumman shut the door.

"You don't. Technically speaking, you wouldn't design one until you were granted the rank of Brigadier General. The only other reason you would have a seal is if you belonged to an extremely well-known and influential family, like the Armstrongs," Hawkeye told him, which just made Ed a little more confused.

"So, do I have to make one up now or did he just mean that Mustang had to put his seal and signature on the papers, while I just sign them?" Ed asked and Hawkeye shrugged a shoulder.

"I'm unsure, Edward," she said. "Doctor Reid, may I see your papers please?" Hawkeye asked, turning to the young agent.

"Yes, of course Captain," Reid said, handing the papers over so Hawkeye could look them over.

"No, there is nowhere for you to put a seal and Führer Grumman has made sure to put your ranks in front of your names so you wouldn't have been expected to put one down anyway," Hawkeye told him and Ed sighed in relief.

"If you hand over all of your papers, Fullmetal and I will head into my office to sign and seal them while Captain Hawkeye makes the phone calls she needs too," Mustang suggested. In the small hubbub created from everyone passing their papers to Mustang, Ed and Al shared a look that no one else noticed. Ed could feel Red nearly vibrating with excitement to see Mustang's reaction to what the boys had done to his office. "Let's go, Fullmetal," Mustang said once he got the last paper. Ed rolled his eyes but he did get to his feet and follow Mustang back into his inner office, giving Al a grin as he did so. Hawkeye pretended not to notice, grabbing her phone and dialling the first number she needed.

Mustang went straight for his desk and Ed followed, leaving the door open so Al could hear Mustang's reaction. Both boys and the Lions were disappointed when Mustang didn't notice anything amiss, merely picking up the pen lying on his desk and adding his signature to each piece of paper. While Ed grabbed the pen and added his own messy signature next to his name, Mustang took a small stick of red sealing wax and snapped his fingers to heat it, melting the wax and dropped a glob onto each page as Edward finished with it, and stamping his seal – a raised flame set inside a circle, set inside the hexagon which formed the border of the Amestrian crest – onto the pages.

"Excellent. Let's head back out to the others now," Mustang said, accepting his pen back and leaving it on his desk.

"_I swear I'll end him if he figures out what you and Al did when you aren't there to witness it,"_ Red growled in Ed's mind as he followed Mustang out.

"_**You'll have to beat me to it,"**_ Ed replied, sharing a disappointed look with Al as he sat in between Al and Morgan once more. Hawkeye was still on the phone while Mustang handed everyone their papers back. No one risked Hawkeye's wrath by talking while she was on the phone so they sat in silence.

"Alright, we'll see you shortly," Hawkeye finally said before hanging up the phone. "Our tickets are booked and we have two private compartments reserved for our use tomorrow. I took the liberty of booking the return tickets and a single compartment for our return, including tickets for Gracia and Elysia," Hawkeye told Mustang.

"Excellent thinking, Captain Hawkeye," Mustang said. "I assume the second phone call was to Lieutenant Colonel Brookes?" Mustang asked and she nodded.

"Yes, Sir. Lieutenant Colonel Brookes and Sheska will join us in half an hour to discuss restaurant options," she informed him and Mustang bit back a sigh of annoyance and resignation. He knew why he'd been put forward as the bill-payer for tonight. It was rather obvious that Edward and his team had been the ones to pick up the bills for the BAU throughout the whole week so it was obviously his turn now but that didn't mean he enjoyed having it sprung on him like it was. He would have much preferred to be the one to make the offer himself. "This is for you, Sir," Hawkeye said, grabbing Mustang's attention once more and he found himself accepting a receipt.

"What's this?" he asked, giving it a look over.

"When the generals and their teams executed the search warrant on your home, Sir, I paid for some groceries to cover the ones they ruined. That is the receipt for them. You may pay me back at your leisure, Sir," Hawkeye told him and Mustang nodded.

"Thank you, Captain," he said, pocketing the receipt before something occurred to him. "Wait, does this mean you cleaned up the whole house?" Mustang asked a little hopefully. He hadn't been looking forward to doing that himself when he got home.

"Yup, we all pitched in," Ed informed him but Mustang didn't like that spark of mischief in his subordinate's golden eyes. "Everyone decided to take a room each but some of us teamed up in the end. For example, I cleared your study but Captain Hawkeye joined me when she was finished in the guest room. Made the clean-up go much quicker," Ed said and Mustang cleared his throat nervously.

"The guest room, you say?" Ed nodded in confirmation and Al elbowed him, carefully, in the gut to stop his smug grin. "I suppose I should apologise?" Mustang offered, looking pleadingly at Hawkeye.

"Not necessary, Sir. I'd noticed those papers didn't arrive at the office with us after the transfer so I had copies sent from East City. You completed them so you may as well dispose of the ones you hid in the guest room," Hawkeye informed him. "I imagine I won't have to tell you not to try something like that again," she said and Mustang shook his head excessively in agreement.

"Of course not," he assured her.

"Damn, Mustang, you really _were_ desperate to get out of doing paperwork," Morgan laughed while Al teased Ed about his disappointed pout that Mustang didn't get shot.

"_I'm disappointed as well,"_ Red purred comfortingly in Ed's mind and he silently thanked her for her support as the others laughed at Mustang's stammered denial. Hawkeye silenced him with a glare, causing everyone to laugh again. Ed grinned at the amusement he saw in the room and felt from the Lions in his mind as he leaned back in his chair, eventually joining in on the chatter as they waited for Brookes and Sheska to join them. For the first time since before General Andrews death, Ed felt like nothing bad was about to happen.

A/N - So here is chapter 27! Technically it is Sunday in my time zone so I ain't early with it. This now means I only have 5 more chapters to post before this story is wrapped up and finished. Many thanks to PhoenixQueen who, as always, has done an amazing job even though her life is starting to get busier! Also, many many thanks to the wonderful few who have left me reviews on the previous chapter! I was super happy to read your comments and I just wanted to let you know how much I really adore getting them! Please drop a review and let me know what you think to it :) See you next week!


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28 –**

"Hey, boss man! Chief!" A familiar voice calling for Ed and Mustang had the group of four waiting at the train station turning to look in that direction. They were greeted by the sight of Havoc waving cheerfully at them. Behind him were the other members of Mustang's team and the BAU agents, who were now carrying backpacks or duffle bags filled with things Ed had bought for them in Central and the clothing they'd arrived in. Right now, the plan was for the BAU to go to sleep that night wearing their original clothing since Ed assumed Truth was likely to take them back when all of them were asleep and they could answer questions about why their clothing looked slept in more easily than they could about why their clothing looked so old-fashioned.

"Lieutenant Havoc, what a surprise. I was only expecting Warrant Officer Fuery to be escorting the team of consultants," Mustang said as the second group approached.

"Ah, well, we decided to help him out and see you guys off," Havoc told him, unperturbed by the unimpressed look Mustang was giving him.

"I sincerely hope this little gathering won't affect you completing your work on time," Hawkeye said, eyes narrowing.

"Of course not, Captain Hawkeye. We'll still get everything done before we head home for the night," Havoc assured her, eyes flicking between hers and her still holstered weapon.

"I certainly hope so," Hawkeye said warningly.

"We've got ten minutes until we're due to board the train," Ed told them. "Wanna get coffees?" He asked, nodding towards the café that was only a few metres away from them.

"Could we get that many coffees before we have to board the train though?" Reid asked, mentally counting how many there were.

"Yeah, it shouldn't be an issue. This train normally runs late anyways," Ed told them with a shrug. Reid didn't seem overly convinced but the rest of the agents overruled him so Havoc, Fuery and Ed headed into the café to place the orders they took from everyone.

It ended up taking the barista fifteen minutes to finish their order but Ed wasn't surprised. They managed to get back out to the others shortly after the barista finished putting the coffee in some carry trays and hand them out to everyone with minimal fuss. Only a few moments after Fuery dumped the coffee trays did the call go out across the station, announcing that the train bound for Resembool was now ready for boarding.

"Well, it was certainly a pleasure being able to meet some of the people who helped Edward and Mustang out," Falman said, offering his hand to the agents.

"I thought we said our goodbyes last night after the dinner," Morgan joked, grasping Falman's hand anyway.

"I know we did," Falman said as he shook the other's hands.

"Thank you for your help getting General Mustang's name cleared," Fuery said as he started shaking the BAU agents' hands.

"Yeah, what they said," Breda added as he did the same as his co-workers.

"Hopefully, Führer Grumman's right and the next time we see you it'll be for a social visit," Havoc grinned.

"Oh, yes, I'm sure Truth will kidnap us next time just so we can pop in and say hello," Rossi joked as he shook Havoc's hand.

"Yeah, it's _great_ like that," Ed said, voice dripping in sarcasm, causing everyone to laugh.

"We need to board the train if we want to arrive in Resembool today," Hawkeye said as the conductor blew the train whistle, signalling the final boarding call.

"We should be heading back to the office," Havoc said. "Have a safe trip, guys, and we'll see you when you arrive back in Central." Mustang nodded.

"Fullmetal will pass along our expected time of arrival to Major Armstrong, like he promised Lieutenant General Armstrong. I'll have him ask the Major to inform you of our arrival time as well so you can organise for a car to meet us," Mustang said. Ed rolled his eyes at the fact that he was being talked about like he wasn't there.

"Sure thing, boss," Havoc said, snapping a salute. The three other members of Mustang's team did the same thing before Mustang dismissed them.

"See you later, guys," Ed said as Hawkeye and Alphonse started leading the BAU agents to the train.

"Try not to kill Mustang while you're in Resembool, chief. Would hate for all our hard work getting him out of jail to be wasted," Havoc smirked as Ed let out a bark of laughter while Mustang looked offended.

"No promises," Ed chuckled, waving goodbye before pushing Mustang towards the train. "Come on or they'll leave us behind," Ed said when Mustang protested the treatment.

"That doesn't mean you can manhandle me, Fullmetal," Mustang said, stepping out of arms' reach of Ed.

"Wouldn't have to if you got moving by yourself," Ed retorted.

"Hurry up, Brother!" Al called from where he stood inside the train car's door, hanging out and waving at them.

Mustang and Ed did as Al said and soon, they were heading for the private compartment Hawkeye was waiting outside of. Ed sat in the compartment with Al, Mustang and Hawkeye as they waited for the train to depart Central. Once it had picked up sufficient speed, Ed got up, planning to join the BAU in their compartment but Mustang stopped him.

"What, are we not good enough company for you?" Mustang joked and Ed rolled his eyes.

"Captain Hawkeye and Al certainly are but you? Depends on the day," Ed teased. "'Sides, I got something I need to talk to the BAU about anyways," Ed said, glancing at Al.

"Do you want me to come with you, Brother?" Al asked chirpily, like he didn't know what Ed planned to be talking to the BAU about.

"Nah, I think I can handle it, Al," Ed told him and Al heard what he was actually saying; that this was something he needed to do by himself. Al nodded and didn't look surprised by his response but he still looked a little upset that Ed didn't want him there.

"What do you need to talk with the BAU about?" Mustang asked and Ed _tsked_ at him.

"None of your business," Ed said before disappearing out of the compartment so Mustang or Hawkeye couldn't question him further. He swore he heard Mustang mutter something unflattering as he closed the door but he didn't rise to the bait and turn around to find out exactly what he said.

The compartment the BAU were in was right across from theirs so it wasn't like it was a big trip to find it but Ed hesitated as he started to reach for the door handle. After a moment he sighed and turned away, heading for a section of the train car where he could be alone and sitting down on one of the hard wooden benches.

"_What's wrong, cub?"_ Blue asked before any of the others and Ed became aware of their worry, not having realised he'd unconsciously ignored them as he walked away from the compartments.

"_**I'm going to tell the agents what Al and I really did,"**_ Ed told the Lions, making sure it was through the bond and not out loud.

"_That's good, Ed,"_ Green said encouragingly. There was no surprise from the Lions but Ed knew there wouldn't be since he did tell them he was considering this. _"But why are you by yourself now?"_

"_**Because I'm having second thoughts about telling them,"**_ Ed admitted, scrubbing his automail hand over his face and wincing when he accidentally pulled at the bandage around his neck.

"_That's understandable, young one. This isn't something you would tell just anyone and how many people have you voluntarily told about it before now, anyway?"_ Black asked, purring comfortingly through the bond.

"_**I told Mustang's team about what we did. I told you guys and Shiro and I've told Reid, the Armstrong siblings and Miss Gracia. Everyone else who knows either figured it out for themselves, like Father Cornello and Mustang, or who witnessed the immediate aftermath, like Winry and Granny,"**_ Ed told her.

"_From what I remember in your memories, you didn't tell Mustang's team until after you'd known them for a few years and only because they needed to be told, though,"_ Yellow said.

"_**Yeah, I did,"**_ Ed confirmed.

"_And you've only spent – what? – three weeks total with the BAU agents?"_ Red asked and Ed hummed affirmatively through the bond. _"It took you years and almost daily contact with Mustang's team and the push from a serial killer to admit what really happened that night. Frankly, I'm surprised you're even considering telling the BAU agents. Hell, I was shocked to learn you told Reid at all,"_ Red told him honestly. Ed wasn't really surprised with that revelation since he himself was still in disbelief that he was considering it.

"_We won't tell you whether you should tell them or not because it isn't our place to do so but we will stand behind whichever decision you do make," _Yellow purred softly and Ed felt his heart warm at their promise.

"_**I **_**am**_** going to tell them,"**_ Ed insisted, _**"but I just need to work up the courage to do so,"**_ he admitted, hating himself slightly for it.

"_Don't beat yourself up because you're having difficulty talking about it,"_ Black chided slightly. _"This isn't exactly something you talk about every day. Of course, it's going to take you some time to be able to work up the nerve. Just take your time, cub,"_ Black said soothingly.

"_The world isn't going to end if you don't tell them immediately so do as Black says and take some time to get yourself mentally ready for what you're going to do,"_ Blue told him gently and Ed sighed before leaning back against the train bench.

_**"Yeah, I think I will,"**_ Ed said, leaning his head against the cool pane of glass and watched the scenery blur pass. _**"Why don't you tell me about what you and the Paladins have been doing since I last asked? Has Lance kicked Keith's arse in training yet?"**_ His question had the desired effect and caused Blue and Red to immediately try and talk over each other to regale Ed with stories about their own Paladin while Black tried to get them to settle down. Green and Yellow decided to play devil's advocate and chime in with a comment aimed to provoke either Blue or Red. Ed smiled softly as he listened to their voices while he focused on his nerves and what he was going to do.

* * *

Ed was a little surprised to realise that it only took a few minutes of the Lions chattering to him and each other for him to feel his resolve to talk with the BAU harden to the point where he felt that he would be able to return to the other car and join them in their compartment. He wanted to listen to the end of Green's tale about Pidge's latest creation she made with her brother and dad before he did, though.

"_They're hoping it could revolutionise the technology on their home planet and make it far more advanced while not hurting the environment. It's actually based off her design for your tablet, Ed,"_ Green told him and Ed allowed himself a grin. He remembered Pidge's comment when she handed him his tablet after she got it to run on alchemic energy – or quintessence as they all called it – about seeing if she could apply the technology to other things.

"_**That's really amazing. Tell her I want to hear everything about it when she has some time to sit down with you and tell you all the details so you can tell me about it,"**_ Ed asked.

"_She's in the middle of another inventing binge with her father so it might not be for a while but I know she'd love to tell you all about it," _Green said, voice obviously proud as she thought about her pilot's achievements.

"_You're going to go talk to the agents now, aren't you?"_ Yellow asked and Ed hummed affirmatively.

"_**Yeah, I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be,"**_ Ed said as he moved his gaze from the scenery outside to the compartment door he knew the BAU were sitting behind.

"_We'll be with you the whole way, Ed,"_ Blue promised and Ed felt himself relax a little with that.

"_**Thanks, guys,"**_ Ed said sincerely and gratefully. He allowed himself to stay sitting for a few more seconds before he took a deep breath and got to his feet, moving with purpose.

As he walked towards the compartment door, he felt the Lions sending him waves of comfort and encouragement through the bond. He took his time walking to the compartment, not wanting the other passengers to question his rush since he'd likely been recognised thanks to his red jacket and golden hair. If civilians saw him in a rush, they might think the train was being hi-jacked with him on board again and panic and Ed didn't want that. He could feel the Lions curiosity about how many times a train he's been on has been hi-jacked but Ed ignored them. He knocked on the compartment door lightly but opened it before anyone inside could say anything.

"Hey, Ed. What brings you by our little compartment?" Morgan asked as soon as he recognised who it was.

"Not much. It was getting boring over there. Mustang isn't the most entertaining travelling companion." Ed grinned at their laughter, squeezing in between Morgan and Reid when they made room for him. As it had been on the ride to Central a week ago, there really wasn't enough room for seven people in the compartment but they made do. "Actually, I was hoping that I could talk to all of you about something that I've been meaning to tell you for a while, and this might be our last chance to talk about it, unless Truth decides to be a dick and kidnap me again," he joked weakly.

"Ed, is this about what we talked about when we were getting the journals?" Reid asked and Ed nodded. "I can talk to everyone about it we get home, if you're not comfortable talking about it yourself. They'd understand."

Ed gave him a small smile but shook his head. "Thanks, Reid, but I couldn't ask you to do that. It's my secret to share and I wouldn't ask anyone to share it with other people just because I couldn't do it myself," Ed told him.

"What does Reid know that we don't?" Morgan asked, looking between the alchemist and his teammate and feeling a little affronted that Edward had apparently felt comfortable enough to talk to Reid, but not the rest of them.

"A lot, I imagine. He is pretty smart and we geniuses have to stick together," Ed retorted on reflex but it helped ease the tension he was feeling. Prentiss, Reid and JJ laughed at Morgan while he tried to defend himself. Hotch and Rossi merely looked amused.

"_You can do this but only if you want to, cub,"_ Black purred in his mind and Ed sent a wave of gratitude through the bond. He felt the other Lions rally behind him and he took a deep breath.

"To make it clear, I do trust all of you as much as I trust Al or Mustang, or the rest of the team," Ed began awkwardly. "I know we didn't all start out on the right foot the first time Mustang and I showed up, but…well, you earned my trust. It's just that, what I'm going to tell you is something that I generally don't talk about unless I absolutely have to," he continued. "Reid found out by putting a lot of the pieces together, and asking me about it, so I told him." The agents could see just how uncomfortable the teen was the more he rambled on.

"Edward, I don't know what it is that you want to tell us but if you're not comfortable doing so, you really don't have to," JJ said from where she sat on the opposite bench. "Especially if this is some way for you to prove you trust us. We already know you do."

Ed shook his head. "It's not about trying to prove that I trust you. It's something that – after everything we've been through together - I think you have a right to know about Al and me. I've spoken to Al, the Lions and Shiro about telling you and they all said the same thing; that I don't have to if I can't talk about it. They all suggested the idea of asking Reid to tell you when you got back to America but I told them the same thing I told Reid just now." The BAU all exchanged concerned and curious looks before looking back at Ed.

"All right, Ed. We'll listen to what you want to tell us but we won't be upset if you decide not to share it with us this time," Hotch assured him, voice gentle and comforting.

Edward took a deep breath and gathered his courage. "I wanted to tell you about what happened to me the night I lost my arm and my leg." He drew some surprised looks from everyone except Reid, as they all clearly remembered how adamant he had been about not telling them what had happened. "I think the only thing I ever told you was that I lost my limbs in an alchemy accident, right?"

"When we fought Harding, you mentioned that you had created and survived a rebound like the one Harding did," Rossi added. "But that was the only thing you've ever said about it."

"I figured as much. That's normally my go-to answer whenever someone asks. Automail is becoming more and more common in Amestris, but it's still not widely found outside of the military or farming communities. No one really questions it or wants to know any more about it, probably because the idea of someone my age having it is disturbing to them. Once people find out I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist, they just sort of accept it when I tell them that I lost my limbs doing alchemy."

"Why don't they question it?" JJ asked, hoping her question would make Ed feel like he was just having a casual conversation and would help him relax a little more.

"Dunno," Ed shrugged. "Maybe because there really aren't that many people who can do alchemy or really understand it, so they just believe that it's one of the risks we take to be able to do what we do."

The agents thought about that for a moment before nodding in agreement. It was as good an explanation as any. Ed paused for a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Everything that happened to Al and me was the result of a mistake we made because we were arrogant," Ed started. "We were a happy family for a while – our dad Hohenheim, our mum Trisha, and Al and me. But then when I was four and Al was three, Hohenheim walked out one day and never came back. Mum kept saying that he would come back eventually, but he didn't." He scowled deeply. "Mum did everything that she could do, and we were still happy."

"Our mother passed away when I was nine and Al was eight. We mostly lived at home, but we spent a lot of time with Granny and Winry. They had us over for dinner several times a week, and Al and I kept going to school with Winry for a few months. Then, one night during a bad rainstorm, there was a chance that the river was going to jump its banks. That was when we first met our Teacher. We watched her use alchemy to build this huge wall of earth to hold back the water, and were so impressed that we begged her to teach us. For the next two years, Al and I went to live with her before Teacher declared us competent enough to survive and practice alchemy without her supervision."

Morgan laughed a little. "That must have been a nice boost in confidence for the two of you." To his surprise, Edward didn't laugh, and his expression remained serious and solemn.

"It was and that was part of the problem with what came next. There was something that we never told our Teacher – the real reason why we wanted her to teach us in the first place. What you don't know is that for a few months after Teacher let us move back to Resembool, Al and I went through every journal and alchemic text our damned father left behind in his study, searching for the one array we should've never looked for. We read through every alchemic text we could get our hands on and after a little while, we finally found a journal that listed the ingredients and array we needed."

"We went into town and bought everything we needed before we took it down to our basement and set everything up." Ed blinked back against the tears, determined to not let them spill this time but knowing he likely would. "We took our time drawing out that array, determined to make sure that every line was perfect, that nothing was out of place. We were about to commit the ultimate taboo, the only transmutation so forbidden that if the government discovers that you've committed it, the punishment is immediate death."

"Death?" Prentiss asked, a little startled at the frank tone of Edward's voice.

Edward nodded. "There aren't many laws from the military regarding alchemy, but the two biggest ones are about creating gold – or really any precious metal – and human transmutation. Although, that punishment is rarely carried out because it's so rare for someone who has activated the array to survive the rebound," Ed told them. "In fact, I personally know of three other people who've survived the transmutation," he admitted. He risked a glance up and noted that some of the agents seemed to know what he was about to tell them. He glanced back at the ground before he continued talking.

"We wanted our mother back, we wanted to see her smile one more time, so in our minds, because our cause was noble, because we were doing it for a good reason, it would be justified. Once we had everything ready, we added the final ingredient – soul data – and activated the array." Ed grinned ruefully. "There's a good reason any attempt to try human transmutation is met with the alchemist's death, either by the array itself or the military if they found out about it." He heard several gasps and felt a hand gripping his knee. He didn't have to look to see it was Reid.

"For three, maybe four seconds, Al and I thought we'd done what every book we read had claimed was impossible. We were certain that we had successfully brought our mother back to life. I remember looking in Al's eyes as the blue alchemic energy danced around us. It was like the energy was as excited as we were, dancing in celebration of our success," Ed said, sounding a little wistful as he remembered the memory. "Then it went to hell. You remember what the alchemic energy looked like when Harding's stone rebounded on him?" Ed didn't look up for the answer but continued on talking. He felt the Lions sending the mental version of comforting hugs through his bond, trying to make him feel warm and safe.

"The alchemic energy in our basement was so fierce it nearly tore the basement apart. The windows almost broke and some of the boards started rattling as they were almost shaken loose. The energy turned from the blue it should've been to the reds and purples, indicating a rebound. I had all of two seconds to process how much we had fucked up before I the rebound hit me. There was suddenly so much pain...I honestly can't describe it to you. When I looked, half my left leg was gone and there was a rapidly growing pool of blood in its place," Ed told them, his tone clinical. "Before I could really process the fact that half my leg was just _gone_, I heard Al cry out for me. When I looked for him, I saw him being grabbed by hundreds of small black hands. You guys probably saw them when Truth sent you through the Gate," Ed said, glancing up and seeing no small amount of horror, shock and grief on their faces.

"Ed…" JJ trailed off but Ed didn't give her the chance to think of what she wanted to actually say.

"Alphonse was torn apart in front of me, literally. Each hand grabbed a piece of him and he disintegrated before my eyes. I reached for him to try and save him but he disappeared just before I touched him," Ed told them, scrubbing at the few tears that had managed to slip loose. "The next thing I knew, I was in Truth's domain for the first time. After it told me what it was, it sent me through the Gate of Knowledge. When I came back from it, I demanded to be sent back because I hadn't learned the answer I needed to know. It laughed at me and told me I had learned all I could for the price I paid," Ed almost growled, remembering those moments with unerring clarity. He doubted he'd ever forget any moment of that night, no matter how many years passed.

"Price?" Morgan asked, voice shaking a little. Ed nodded.

"My leg was my payment. Al's body was his."

"But – your arm? And Al?" JJ asked, her voice thick and confused.

"Alphonse was taken from me. I was thrown out of Truth's dimension and realised Al wasn't there. I begged – pleaded – for someone to help me, to give me Al back but no one answered me. Then I remembered why we'd been in the basement in the first place so I begged my mother for help." Ed shuddered violently.

"Your mother? But –" Rossi's tone was quiet.

"The thing we made wasn't human, and it didn't live more than a few more moments," Ed told them, voice thick with emotion as he tried to control the nausea he felt at the mere memory of that night. "I knew I was the only one who could save Al but I was in so much pain and shock that I couldn't think straight. I still don't know what happened but the answer suddenly came to me and I knew what I needed to do to try and save some part of Al." Ed took in a deep breath and quietly cleared his throat before continuing. No one dared to interrupt him now. "I dragged myself over to an old suit of armour Hohenheim had left in the basement, pulled it down and drew an array using my blood that would bind Al's soul to it, essentially bringing him back, just not whole. The price I paid for that was my arm," Ed revealed and he heard someone murmur something but ploughed over them, anxious to finish what he was saying.

"I managed to stay awake long enough to see the suit of armour move towards me. I lost consciousness right after I heard Al's voice, but Al apparently carried me all the way to Granny Pinako's house, woke her and Winry up and they saved my life. I was unconscious for two days, and for that whole time, they weren't sure that I would make it. Between my leg and my arm, I'd lost a huge amount of blood – a few minutes more and I would have bled out. When I woke up, Granny lectured me to within an inch of my life before telling me she had gone to our home once I was stabilised to rid the house of any evidence of what we'd done. She scrubbed the floors, cleared up the papers and books we'd used as references and buried that _thing_ in the backyard," Ed said before sighing.

"Mustang and Captain Hawkeye found us a few days later. Apparently, there had been rumours that reached East City about a powerful alchemist living in Resembool. Mustang thought the rumour was about Hohenheim but it was about me and Al. He broke into our house and saw the evidence Granny had been able to get rid of completely, figure out where we were and barged into Granny's home to yell at us. As a State Alchemist, and a member of the military, no one would have questioned it if he had killed us right then and there once he filed a report, but he didn't. After Al made him calm down, Mustang offered me a position in the military once I was healed." Ed scowled as he thought of what he was going say next but continued anyway.

"That offer probably saved my life, if I'm being honest. It certainly made it possible for me to bring Al back whole five years after we committed the taboo. Because of Mustang's offer, I had the funds I needed to travel across the country, chasing down rumours about the Philosopher's Stone and we were able to uncover Father's plan to murder everyone in Amestris to become some ultimate god so he could devour Truth. Although sometimes, I question why we didn't let him but then I remember we would've all been dead so it wouldn't have been worth it," Ed joked weakly.

"So when you told us Al sacrificed himself during Promised Day...?" Rossi asked

"I didn't lie. Al really did die during Promised Day and I brought him back," Ed told them. "Father destroyed my automail arm and impaled my flesh arm on a piece of rebar sticking out of some debris. I couldn't get myself off of it and Father was readying himself to kill me. Al, the idiot, had the Xingese Princess, Mei Chang, use alkahestry on the two of us. Al reversed the seal that tied his soul to the armour, and she channelled the power released by his sacrifice to me. When she did that, it forced the payment for Al's soul being bound to the amour to be repaid. I got my right arm back, pulled myself off the rebar and went to town on Father," Ed said vindictively.

"Once the dust had settled after Father was destroyed, I committed human transmutation once more. During our journey, I had learned that even though it was impossible to transmute the dead, it wasn't impossible to transmute the living. This time, I wasn't taking no for an answer. I offered to give up my ability to use alchemy in exchange for Al, body and soul but Truth offered me a counter deal; it would take my right arm back and I would owe it one favour that it could cash in at any time in exchange for Al. I would also get to keep my alchemy," Ed finished. After a moment of silence, Ed shifted nervously. "That's everything I wanted to tell you," he said, unsure if they'd realised he'd actually finished telling them everything. He looked down at his knees, seeing Reid's hand still resting on the left one as a comforting weight. He didn't want to look at his friends. He didn't want to see the disgust or anger in their faces.

"Ed," Reid said quietly.

When Ed finally looked up and made himself actually look at each of them properly, he found himself shocked by their expressions. Reid, having known about this already, looked saddened to hear the story again but he had a stubborn set to his jaw, like he was ready to fight on Ed's behalf if his team said or did anything he didn't like. JJ and Prentiss had tears tracking their way down their cheeks, which caused guilt to flare in Ed. He hated making people cry. The biggest surprise for Ed thought was the fact that Morgan, Hotch and Rossi all had watery eyes as well. Their tears didn't spill over but Ed was still shocked to see them at all. The Lions were the ones who pointed something else out to him.

"_None of them hate or are disgusted by you, did you notice?"_ Blue asked gently and Ed jolted as he took in the BAU once again and realised she was right. _"That's because they know what happened was a tragic accident that wasn't your fault,"_ Blue said, a small amount of smugness at being proven right in her voice. The other Lions couldn't suppress their own victorious feelings completely either. Ed felt Reid squeeze his knee once more and looked over at the youngest agent.

"Give them a few moments to process what you said," Reid said, obviously assuming Ed was silently panicking at the silence from the others. Ed nodded and leaned slightly into Reid as he waited for the verbal reactions from the BAU.

"Edward, I –" Hotch was the first one to speak but he seemed to be stumbling over his words, which was a first for Ed to witness as the man had always seemed to be able to roll with everything thrown at him. "First, thank you for sharing the true cause behind your injuries with us. I understand how difficult it would've been to talk about it if it had been caused by something like a miscalculation as you originally claimed but hearing the true story behind what happened? I'm not surprised you had so much trouble deciding whether to share it with us or not," Hotch said, locking gazes with Ed. Ed just knew his mouth was slightly agape in shock at being thanked for telling them about what had happened.

"Oh, Edward, I can't believe you and Al both went through something as horrific as that at such a young age! I can't believe the two of you managed to survive it either," JJ admitted, wiping the tears off her face. Hotch looked a little irritated at being cut off but JJ took no notice of him.

"Jeez, kid, every time I think I've heard the worst thing you've been through; you just have to prove me wrong," Morgan weakly teased from beside Ed, giving Ed a slightly watery smirk before he looped his arm carefully around Ed's shoulders and pulled him towards himself for a one-armed hug.

"Sorry?" Ed said. He really wasn't sure if he should be apologising for that or not. His confusion caused some of the BAU to laugh at him, though the laughter wasn't as humourous as it ordinarily would've been.

"You weren't wrong when you said Elrics were hard to kill, were you?" Rossi half-joked and Ed cracked a smile.

"I really wasn't. We honestly should've died a dozen times over before Promised Day," Ed said with a slight chuckle. It hadn't slipped Ed's notice that Prentiss hadn't said anything yet but he tried not to let it get to him.

"_I think she's still processing,"_ Green said, using Ed's sight to check on the dark-haired woman. Ed didn't argue with Green's opinion but the pessimistic side of him was telling him that Prentiss wasn't saying anything because she hated him now.

"I always knew you were a brave person, Ed, but I never knew how brave you were. You went through all of that and you're still able to joke and laugh every day? That's strength I can admire," Prentiss said completely seriously, reaching over Morgan to squeeze Ed's flesh forearm carefully so she didn't move it in the sling too much.

"Aw, look what you've done, Prentiss. You've made him blush!" Morgan teased, pinching one of Ed's flaming red cheeks, causing the blond to yelp and bat his hand away.

"Shut up, Morgan! I'm not!" Ed insisted, even as his blush deepened vividly as he tried to wriggle his way out of Morgan's grip while the others chuckled.

"Derek Morgan, behave yourself," JJ said sternly, though her eyes had a spark of amusement in them. Morgan obeyed her instantly, releasing Ed, who slid over closer to Reid slightly, just in case Morgan decided to try anything again.

"Edward, we understand why you didn't want to tell us about the nature of the accident that caused you and Al such grievous injuries," Hotch said and immediately the mood dropped again, "but you have my promise that I will keep your secret like it was my own." Ed could tell just how deadly serious Hotch was as he made that promise.

"I will as well," Rossi swore and soon Ed had promises from everyone else in the compartment. Reid even swore once more to not tell a soul.

"There is something I'd like to know though, just so we're on the same page," Hotch said and Ed nodded for him to continue. "Would you like us to tell Garcia or would you prefer to tell her yourself, if we somehow manage to be in the same dimension again?" Ed didn't answer right away simply because he didn't know how to answer.

Like he'd said so many times to so many different people, this was something he didn't want other people sharing on his behalf. It should be his and Al's burden to share and only his and Al's. But Ed also knew what the chances were of him ever seeing the BAU after this were extremely slim. If he asked the agents to keep his secret from Garcia, he knew they would. None of them would ever tell her anything but he also knew keeping such a secret from her could cause a rift between them and Garcia and it wouldn't be fair of him to ask them to risk that.

"I – I need to think about it. I'll give you an answer when we're in Resembool," Ed said, brow creasing as he gave his answer.

"That's fine, Edward. We won't tell her unless we have your express permission," Hotch reassured him and Ed nodded, knowing that the team would follow Hotch's lead.

"Thank you," Ed said, not specifying what he was thanking them for and hoping they wouldn't ask but, naturally, his luck wasn't that good.

"Why are you thanking us?" Prentiss asked but Ed just shrugged.

"Because you didn't hate him because of what he and Al did," Reid stated, remembering what Ed had said when Reid had asked why Ed was surprised the young agent had taken everything so well. Ed glared at him but the glare lacked the heat that would've made it effective.

"Aw, blondie, we could never hate you!" Morgan said, ruffling Ed's hair, causing the young alchemist to grumble and complain about the treatment.

"Morgan's correct. You'll have to try a lot harder to make us hate you," Hotch said, gifting Ed with a rare smile.

"I feel like I should point out that that isn't a challenge," Rossi tacked on quickly to the end of Hotch's statement and causing the others to chuckle as Ed grinned.

"You sure?" Ed asked cheekily before letting his smirk turn into a genuine smile. "Thanks, guys." This time he didn't have to clarify why he was thanking them

"You're welcome, Ed," Hotch said and the others smiled or nodded at him.

"Now, why don't you tell us more about Granny Pinako and Winry? We haven't heard many stories about them yet," JJ suggested, giving Ed a lovely smile. "I imagine you have plenty of stories from your childhood about them."

"Yeah, I can do that," Ed said, relaxing slightly into his seat in between Morgan and Reid.

He started telling them about one of his first memories he could remember that had Granny and Winry in it. As he was talking, he felt the Lions press on their bond with him a lot more than usual, sending their pride in and love for him through it, while they also listened to Ed talk. Ed felt himself relax further the longer he talked and he couldn't help but think he should probably thank Al for suggesting he not leave any secrets between him and the agents when he and his brother were alone again.

* * *

The rest of the trip passed uneventfully, with the exception of a few brief delays at a couple of stations in between Central and Resembool. When JJ expressed her concern over the delays, Ed assured her that no one who got on a train in Amestris truly expected to arrive at their destination on time. Ed did end up heading back to the second compartment almost halfway through the trip, just to make sure the others were alright and that nothing major had happened while he wasn't there. After Al assured him that they were alright, Ed left to go back to the BAU but this time, Al decided to join him.

Some of the agents decided to go to Mustang's compartment and join him and Hawkeye while Ed and Al stayed with the remaining agents. They seemed to be rotating themselves between the brothers and the soldiers for the duration of the train ride. The entire train ride seemed to go so much faster than Ed remembered it being because it seemed like no time at all after his talk with the BAU that the conductor was announcing their next stop was going to be Resembool station.

"At least we'll be making this walk during the day this time," Ed remarked as he looked out the window and the scenery flashed by.

"I expect that would make the walk a little easier," JJ said with a half-grin.

"For you guys, Captain Hawkeye and General Mustang, maybe. But Brother and I can navigate these streets with our eyes closed," Al said, voice tinged with no small amount of pride. JJ gave him an indulgent smile before turning back to watching the scenery.

The Lions were using Ed's eyes to watch the scenery as well and Ed had a feeling it was because they hadn't come across a planet with landscapes quite like what Amestris had. Ed did have to admit that he really did miss the country sometimes. Being in a city as big as Central sometimes made him feel almost claustrophobic so it was good knowing he could hop on a train and be in open spaces in only a few hours.

The conductor finally made the announcement that they were about to pull into Resembool station and Ed felt the train slow down. He was on his feet before the train had fully stopped in the station, noting Al did the same while the BAU elected to remain seated. The telling squeal of the brakes finally cut out and Ed swayed with the jolt that always happened when the train came to a complete stop.

"Let's go," Ed said as he slid open the compartment door. The agents in the compartment with him and Al grabbed their bags and the bags the other agents had left stowed under the bench seats.

They followed the small crowd of people who were disembarking in Resembool before being joined by the others once they were on the platform. Once they were all back together, the agents who were in Mustang's compartment were given their bags back by the other agents.

"Fullmetal, you lead the way," Mustang ordered.

"I don't even know why you bothered making that an order," Ed said, rolling his eyes. "It's not like you could get us to Granny's without getting us lost." There were a couple of suspicious coughs from the BAU before Ed gestured for them to follow him and Al.

* * *

Since Pinako had told Ed and Al she didn't need them to get anything for her when they arrived, they didn't make any stops on their way through the small town. Ed and Al were stopped by a few locals who said hello, asked what had happened to cause their injuries and passed on some local gossip before they left the group to continue to Pinako's.

Once they were on the outskirts of town, the walk went a lot quicker since they weren't stopped by any friendly townspeople. Ed and Al took turns pointing out places along their path that had a story attached to it for them and Al was the one to point out the hill their home had once stood. Unlike when Ed had brought Gracia and Elysia to Pinako's, the BAU were able to see the burnt-out ruins that still remained.

Ed and Al finally turned up a long, narrow road that veered off the wider road they had been walking on and it didn't take the BAU long to figure out they were walking up the Rockbells' driveway. The house and sign that proudly proclaimed who the home and surgery belonged to finally came into view. When Den came running to greet them, barking excitedly when Ed and Al called out to him, a couple of the BAU agents paused instinctively at the sight of a large dog coming straight at them.

"This is Granny's dog, Den. He's almost as old as I am now," Al introduced him as he scratched behind one of the black and white dog's ears while Ed ruffled some of the fur on his back.

"Come on, boy. Let's go see your owners," Ed said, whistling for Den to follow once the BAU agents had introduced themselves to him. Morgan had done so with more hesitation than any of the others but Den merely licked his hand before joining Ed. Reid teased Morgan for his nervousness around Den as they followed behind the two boys and the dog.

"Edward? Alphonse?" A woman none of the group had noticed called from the front door.

"Hey, Miss Gracia!" Ed called back, giving her a big wave. The two brothers picked up speed, as did the rest of the group, and met the woman just as she made it down the front stairs.

"Oh, what happened to you two this time?" Gracia asked as she fretted over them, taking in the sight of the sling on Ed's arm and his bandaged neck as well as Al's head wound and scratched cheek.

"We got Mustang released but the person who framed him did not want to surrender," Ed told her and Gracia sighed.

"But you're alright? Both of you?" Gracia asked, placing a hand on one their cheeks as her worried eyes flicked between the two of them.

"Nothing that won't heal within a couple of weeks, Miss Gracia," Ed assured her with a soft smile. Al nodded to back up Ed's claim and Gracia relaxed a little.

"Elysia is having a nap. She was up late last night so she could greet Winry when she got into the train station. Winry's in her workshop and Pinako is organising cots for everyone. I was helping her until I heard Den barking and came to investigate," Gracia explained. Den yapped once, as though he was supporting her story before he walked up the stairs and lay down at the top of them.

"Ed can introduce you to everyone. I'm gonna go and say hello to Granny and Winry and see if Granny needs any help," Al said, squeezing Gracia's hand where it still sat on his cheek before heading into the house, giving Den a pat as he walked past the dog.

"Come on, Miss Gracia. I'll introduce you," Ed said, mimicking Al and squeezing Gracia's hand before dropping it. Mustang and Hawkeye chose that moment to step away from the BAU, likely to give the BAU the spotlight, so to speak, but their movement caught Gracia's eye.

"Roy! Riza!" She exclaimed before enveloping Mustang in a hug. "I didn't see you there. Are you alright, Roy?" Gracia asked, beginning her fussing routine on him before she noticed Hawkeye's cast. "Oh, Riza, are you alright? What happened?" Gracia's attention went straight from Mustang to Hawkeye in a flash, much to Mustang's slight shock and the others' amusement.

"Thank you for your concern, Gracia, but I'm alright," Hawkeye assured her, squeezing one of her hands gently in an extra attempt to reassure the blonde woman. "I was kidnapped by the person responsible for framing General Mustang. Edward and the team found me before she could do anything more than break my arm," she told Gracia in response to her second question. Gracia gasped in shock as she squeezed Hawkeye's hand comfortingly.

"Oh, Riza, I'm glad they got you out but I'm so sorry you had to go through that at all," Gracia said, eyes shining a little wetly. Before anyone could say anything else, there was an excitable shout from inside the house and Gracia laughed lightly. "I think my daughter is awake," she said in answer to the confused looks from everyone.

"Big brother Ed!" They heard a young child call just before the front door opened to allow Elysia outside. The young girl saw the strangers but she barely hesitated as she threw herself at Ed. The alchemist couldn't quite stop the grunt of pain that escaped when Elysia unwittingly hit the stitches in his abdomen and made his ribs flare in painful protest. "Big brother, are you hurt?" Elysia asked, peering up at him as she took a step away from him.

"Yeah, a little bit but I'm fine, El," Ed said, crouching down so he was eye-level with the little girl, wincing internally as he felt the stitches on his calf pull warningly.

"Are you sure? You have a lot of bandages," Elysia said, stumbling a little over the big word but grinning proudly when she didn't mispronounce it.

"I know I do but they're there just to make sure I keep my hurts clean until the doctor looks at them again," Ed said, smiling at her. The little girl's own smile grew as she wrapped her arms around Ed's neck far more carefully than she normally would've. Ed squeezed her just as carefully with his automail arm. "Why don't you see who else is here?" Ed whispered in her ear and watched with amusement as she carefully studied the BAU before her eyes fell on Mustang and Hawkeye.

"Uncle Roy! Miss Riza!" Elysia squealed, causing Ed to flinch at the volume before she let go of his neck and ran towards the two of them.

Ed watched as Mustang caught her when Elysia threw herself at him and swept her up in a big hug. He straightened up carefully from his crouch, twitching when the stitches on his calf pulled slightly but he waved off the concerned looks he garnered from some of the agents.

"How have you been, Elysia?" Mustang asked once Elysia had pulled back from the hug, though she hadn't demanded to be let down just yet.

"I've been good! Granny and Mumma showed me heaps of really pretty things and I did lots and lots of drawings for you and my big brothers and Miss Riza and _all_ of the team! I even did some for the Lions in big brother Ed's mind so he can show them for me!" Elysia answered excitably. Ed felt the Lions coo in his head and he resisted the urge to make fun of them.

"_When we visit you, you must let us meet Elysia first. What a sweetie,"_ Black informed him and Ed nodded in agreement as he listened to Elysia chatter to Mustang about everything else she'd been doing while in Resembool.

"Miss Riza! You're hurt," Elysia cried, pointing at the cast she'd just spotted on the captain's left arm. She wriggled out of Mustang's grip and stood in front of Hawkeye.

"Yes, I am, Elysia, but I'm alright now," Hawkeye told her, doing as Ed did and crouching so she could look the little girl in the eyes.

"Can I draw on it?" Elysia asked, obviously believing Hawkeye's claim so she now no longer worried.

"We'll see," Hawkeye said with an indulgent smile.

"El, come over here. I need to introduce you to some people," Ed called, rescuing Hawkeye from Elysia's pleading eyes.

"Who are they, big brother?" Elysia asked once she was in between Ed and Gracia.

"They're who I want to introduce you too. Do you remember Granny Pinako, your mum and I talking about me going to meet some people in town just before I left you and your mum here?" Ed asked. Elysia frowned before her expression turned to remembrance and she nodded enthusiastically. "These are the people I had to go meet," Ed said. "These are Agents Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, Derek Morgan and Doctor Spencer Reid." Ed had pointed them out as he said their names. "Guys, these are Gracia and Elysia Hughes," Ed said, grinning as Gracia gasped.

"They're the agents from your first inter-dimensional trip, aren't they?" She asked and Ed nodded. Gracia surged forward and grabbed an extremely surprised Reid and JJ around the necks and pulled them into possibly the tightest, yet quickest, hugs Ed have ever seen Gracia give in his life before she moved onto Morgan and Prentiss before she gave Rossi and Hotch the same treatment and backed off to look at them all. "Thank you for making sure Roy and Edward made it home alive the first time they wound up in your world and thank you for answering Ed's call and rushing to help him and Roy the second time," Gracia said, voice thick with her gratitude. "I never thought I'd get to thank the people who helped them face-to-face," she chuckled a little wetly.

"These are your friends from the place you went on your super-secret trips with Uncle Roy?" Elysia asked, tugging on Ed's jacket so he'd look at her.

"The first two trips. Remember, on the third trip I met the Lions and the Paladins," Ed told her.

"And the space princess," Elysia said and Ed nodded.

"And the space princess," he agreed before looking up as Hotch spoke.

"There's no need to thank us for helping them, Mrs. Hughes-"

"Oh, please call me Gracia." Hotch nodded with a smile, seemingly not minding the interruption.

"Gracia," he amended. "While we may not have started on the most trustworthy foot, Edward and Mustang certainly earned our loyalty and friendship. We would never have left either of them in a strange city with no one they know near them. They're too likely to find trouble." Hotch's tone may have been dry but there was amusement in his eyes.

"Hey!" Ed protested indignantly, making almost everyone laugh at his pout.

"It's not like he's wrong, Fullmetal," Mustang smirked and Ed pointed a threatening finger at him.

"Don't make me hit you in front of Elysia," Ed snarked.

"No hitting." Both JJ and Gracia spoke at the same time before looking at each other slightly surprised then sharing a grin.

"Thank you for helping my big brother and my uncle," Elysia said, a little shy, as she huddled next to Ed's leg. Her voice was effective in stopping Mustang and Ed from trying to glare each other to death.

"You're welcome, sweetie," JJ said kindly.

"Why don't we head inside? Al can introduce you to Granny while I see if I can coax Winry out of her workshop so she can yell at me for risking her automail and meet you lot," Ed grumbled as a couple of the BAU agents laughed at him, obviously remembering his stories from the train.

"I'll go with you, big brother," Elysia said and Ed nodded as if this was the best idea he'd ever heard.

"Yes. You can protect me from Winry," Ed said, poking Elysia in the side gently to make her laugh, grinning at her squeals of laughter.

"I'm sure she's not that scary," Morgan teased as they followed him up the stairs.

"She's far scarier than Den," Ed said, nodding to the dog Morgan had tried to inconspicuously give a wide berth. "Unlike him, she'd actually bite you," Ed told him. She'd done that once before, though in all fairness they had been five at the time. Of course, now she just kept a small arsenal of wrenches and other tools at hand.

"I was wondering if you and your friends were going to stand outside all day." Pinako's croaky voice preceded her appearance in the room, Al following behind with a mattress. "I guess it's too much to ask that you pay us _one_ visit were you're not covered in bandages and bruises," Pinako sighed as she took in Ed's appearance.

"I was perfectly uninjured when I dropped Miss Gracia and El off," Ed protested and Pinako gave a hum that could've been one of agreement or of derision.

Her hard eyes flicked to Mustang as she tapped her pipe on the table next to her. "Mustang. I suppose congratulations are in order," Pinako said flatly. "It's good to see you again, Captain Hawkeye."

"Thank you for your hospitality, Pinako," Hawkeye said, bowing slightly. Pinako waved her thanks off.

"Go put that in the other room, Alphonse," Pinako instructed and Al and the mattress disappeared through the other door. "I suppose these are the people who were being held in our holding cells in town then." Pinako puffed on her pipe as she gave the six agents a look over.

"Yes, they are. Granny Pinako, these are six of the seven people who helped me and Mustang hunt down Harding on our first inter-dimensional trip." As he did with Elysia and Gracia, Ed pointed to the agent whose name he said as he introduced them.

"Pleasure," Pinako said, taking another long draw on her pipe. "Thank you for making sure my Edward and his boss came back in one piece when they turned up in your world," Pinako said, giving them a slight bow. "Am I right to think you also helped sort out the mess Mustang got himself into?" Pinako asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Hotch said.

"'Pinako' is fine," Pinako told him, pointing her pipe at him. "I trust Mustang has already thanked you for that but I'll thank you for helping Edward," Pinako said, a touch gruffly before turning back to Edward. "Winry wanted to see you the moment you arrived so I suggest you get up there," she informed him.

"If I don't come back alive, it was great seeing you guys again," Ed said solemnly, though his lips were upturned in a grin. He did shoot Pinako a glare when she muttered something under her breath.

"Can I come with you? I'd love to see an automail workshop," Reid said, eyes lit up with hope and Ed shrugged a shoulder.

"You can come with but she might kick you out so fair warning," Ed said, beckoning him to follow as Elysia led Ed himself up the staircase by his automail arm.

"Elysia, you make sure you don't disrupt your big sister too much," Gracia called as they disappeared up the stairs.

"Okay, mumma!" They heard Elysia call back and Gracia shook her head while the agents offered Pinako their help with getting things ready.

* * *

"If she grabs her wrench and aims it at you, consider it a gun and run for your life," Ed warned Reid as they approached the workshop door.

"You know, I can't tell if you're joking or not," Reid commented as Ed let Elysia knock on the door. Barely two moments later, the door was wrenched open and a glaring Winry stood facing them.

"It's about time you turned up, Edward. I thought you told me that you would be – who's that?" Winry asked, he lecture coming to an abrupt halt as she realised there was someone other than Elysia and Ed standing outside her room.

"This is Doctor Spencer Reid, one of the people I met in America on two of the super-secret trips I took," Ed said, ruffling Elysia's hair when Winry looked like she was about to ask why he was calling them that.

"Pleasure to meet you, Doctor Reid," Winry said, extending an arm for him to shake.

"Oh, please call me 'Reid'." Winry nodded as she released his hand.

"I'm Winry, this idiot's best friend," Winry said, jerking her head at Ed, who just sighed in resignation at the name-calling.

"Granny said you wanted to see me right away. If it's just to insult me, bring it on, gear head," Ed snarked. Winry gave him a dirty look before grabbing his automail arm and dragging him inside her room.

"Of course it isn't," she snapped as she led him to her workbench. "Reid and Elysia, you can come in," Winry called, not bothering to look around to see her invitation was unnecessary. "I'm not even going to bother asking what you got yourself into this time. I'm sure I'll hear about it at some point but did you damage either of the limbs or the ports?" Winry asked, already tugging up Ed's jacket sleeves to look for herself.

"No, I didn't," Ed said, wrenching his arm out of her grip and glaring at her when she went to grab it once more.

"You're not lying to me, are you?" Winry asked, wrench suddenly in hand and pointing at Ed's face in a threatening manner.

"I got sick of all your lectures about damaging my automail so I decided to let the bi-" Ed glanced at Elysia before focusing on Winry again, "_bad guy_ hit all the far more easily damaged parts of me instead so I could avoid another one," Ed snapped.

"Good," Winry said, turning to her bench as Ed resisted the urge to flip her off while she had her back turned. Only Elysia's presence stopped him.

"Insufferable witch," Ed muttered as he sat on Winry's bed and let Elysia climb into his lap. Reid looked torn between amused and worried. "Why'd you want me up here?" Ed asked as Elysia fussed over his sling.

"I told Alphonse I had a new set of automail for you. I need to take your measurements to make sure they'll fit – though I'm certain they will – and if they do, I want to install them today since I assume you'll want the whole day tomorrow to get over the usual aches and what-not," Winry said, turning around with a case in her arms. "This is your new set," she said, placing the case on the stool next to the bed and opening the lid.

"Shiny," Ed commented drily before looking at Winry. "What's so special about this set?" He asked, almost regretting it when she lit up in delight.

"This is another cold-weather set so it's lighter than your current set but," Winry said just as Ed was about to comment, "I've added some extra stuff." She shifted before pointing out different things. "You'll have your hidden knife in the index finger like usual but I've also added a thin, flat blade to the leg that can be unsheathed like a sword," Winry told him, grasping the unattached leg and showing Ed where it was hidden.

"Wow, Winry. If I didn't know it was there, I wouldn't even notice it," Ed complimented as he took the dagger from the leg.

"That's the point," Winry said, rolling her eyes but Ed knew she was pleased by the praise. "Mr. Dominic showed me a different alloy than I used on your last set of winter automail, so this new set should not only be lighter, but should be a bit harder to destroy," Winry told him as she accepted the dagger back and slid it in place. "I took what I learned from the Briggs soldiers and combined that with what Mr. Garfiel and Mr. Dominic showed me, and I was able to change the composition of the steel quite a bit. Like I said, it's suited for the cold weather but it should also be far less prone to rust than the usual cold-weather sets are so if you _do_ get thrown into a lake or river or whatever, you won't have to get it dry as quickly as you ordinarily would."

Ed looked impressed. "That will be handy, Winry. Thanks!"

"Can I take your measurements now?" Winry asked and Ed knew the only reason she hadn't demanded he strip was because Reid and Elysia were in the room.

"Hey, El?" The little girl looked up at him. "Why don't you go and see if Miss Riza will let you draw on her cast yet?" Ed suggested.

"Okay, big brother!" Elysia exclaimed excitably before she scrambled off his lap and shot out the door, though she did close it behind her.

"That should keep her entertained for a while," Ed said as he took his arm out of the sling and pulled off his jackets while he kicked his boots off at the same time.

On account of his calf injury and the fact that he knew they wouldn't be doing anything more stressful than walking, Ed hadn't bothered to wear his normal leather pants. Instead, he had worn a pair of looser slacks that he would normally only wear if he was spending the day indoors. He wriggled out of them so he was left in his tank top and boxer shorts before sitting on Winry's bed, leaning against the wall behind the head of the bed with his legs stretched out in front of him. Winry grabbed her measuring tape and started talking the measurements she wanted.

"How come you're doing that if you've already made the limbs, Winry?" Reid asked and Ed only just stopped himself from startling. He'd nearly forgotten Reid was even in the room.

"I made the new set based off of the most recent measurements of his I had but they're a couple of months old. Though its rare, it is possible Ed could've grown a bit in those months," Winry teased but to her disappointment, Ed didn't take the bait. The fact that he hadn't really reacted to teasing comments like he used to in the months before Promised Day didn't stop Winry from trying to get a reaction other than an eye roll out of him in the months since.

"Why would it be rare? Statistically, human males stop developing around the age of 18, though it's not uncommon for some to continue growing into their early 20's," Reid said.

"There's a reason children typically don't get automail before the age of eighteen. Depending on what body part they've lost, the automail can stunt growth and development," Winry told him as she noted the last measurement and moved to the limbs in the case. "In most cases, children are only given automail if it's necessary to save their lives. Automail is becoming more common, but there are still a lot of things that we don't know about it, so when it comes to children, most doctors and mechanics are cautious about installing it. Edward was only eleven when he lost his limbs and elected to have automail installed. If he'd lost only a hand or a foot, for example, his growth likely wouldn't have been as stunted," Winry said.

"Plus, we have a theory that while Al was – OW! What the hell, Winry?!" Ed yelped when Winry hit him with the closest thing she could grab; her wrench. Winry just glared at him before turning back to her measurements of the new set of limbs. Ed rolled his eyes and muttered something too low for Reid or Winry to hear but the look on his face made Reid glad Winry couldn't hear the alchemist. "As I was saying; we have a theory – Fucking hell! Why do you keep hitting me, you crazy witch?!" Ed snapped as he rubbed his head where Winry had hit him again. Winry just pursed her lips before looking pointedly at Ed then at Reid before back at Ed. It took him a moment but Ed finally figured out what her silent protest was and he rolled his eyes. "He _knows_, you crazed gearhead. They all do," Ed told her and watched in smug satisfaction as Winry's mouth fell open.

"Well, how was _I_ supposed to know that, alchemy freak? It's not like you told me you told them," Winry sniffed haughtily. Reid was watching the scene unfold in almost horrified fascination.

"I can tell whomever I damn well want about what happened without running it past you, ya know," Ed snarked, still rubbing his bruised head. "As I was saying," Ed said, glaring at Winry before turning back to Reid, "we have a theory that Al's body was somehow connected to mine; getting nutrients and whatnot from me to keep it – well _healthy_ isn't really the right word but it's all I got – healthy enough so Al would survive when I got his body back," Ed told him. "So, we think it's a combination of my age when I got the automail installed and the fact that my body was being used to keep Al's sustained that limited my growth so much," Ed summed up.

"Alright, the measurements are fine. Do you want me to get Granny so we can do both at once or will you be alright if we do this one limb at a time?" Winry asked and Ed contemplated.

On one hand, he wouldn't be as tense when it was time for the second limb replacement due to the first pain if Winry got Pinako and they did both at the same time. But then again, Pinako was busy with everyone downstairs and Ed didn't really want to other people to follow Pinako up – not that he thought anyone _would_ – but he didn't want to risk that. The whole procedure was painful enough without people who weren't familiar with the process making a fuss about it.

"I'll be fine with just you. Granny's probably busy anyway," Ed said, nodding resolutely when Winry gave him a look asking if he was sure.

"Alright," Winry didn't sound like she thought he was making the right decision but she knew better than to argue. "Reid, you can help," Winry said and Reid looked shocked and he wasn't the only one.

"You're going to let a person you don't know touch your precious automail? Who are you and where's the real Winry?" Ed asked seriously.

"Ha ha, you're hilarious," Winry deadpanned. "All Reid is going to do is hold you still when I connect each limb," Winry said to the both of them. "Are you sure you don't want me to get Granny? You normally don't handle the second round of pain very well, remember?" Winry asked and it was only the fact that her voice was pure concern that stopped Ed from saying something sarcastic in response.

"Yeah, I know but it's fine, Winry. I think my pain tolerance has gone up a bit since I was eleven," Ed told her with a smirk on his face as she rolled her eyes.

"Fine but if you pass out and drool on my pillow, I'll kick your arse, injured or not," Winry warned him as she pulled the new limbs out of the case and set them on the bed. Ed glared at her then at Reid when he snorted in amusement. "Which limb do you want to start with?" Winry asked and Ed waved his hand at her as he shifted his position so that she could reach his right arm more easily.

"Where do you want me?" Reid asked, shifting in readiness to follow Winry's orders.

"Nowhere right now. He'll handle the first connection fine on his own. It's the second one that'll be the most painful," Winry told him before turning to Ed. "Alright, I'm disconnecting your arm now," she warned before she did it. It came off with a _click_ and Winry placed it in the case where the new set had been.

"Does it hurt when it's disconnected?" Reid asked curiously as he studied the visible port and Ed shook his head, watching as Winry took a small light and one of her tools and carefully checked the connectors to make sure there wasn't any damage that Ed hadn't been aware of. Ed was used to this and leaned his head back against the wall while she tinkered.

"No, not unless it's forcibly disconnected from the port, but that hurts the joint and what's left of my shoulder or leg more than anything. It's not connected to the nerves themselves. The nerves are connected to the port, and the arm connects to the port. Once she plugs the new arm in, she'll have to – well, 'turn on' the connectors to let the nerves 'connect' to the new limb. It's a little weird and kind of hard to explain, but because the port is there my nerves are convinced I still have an arm while my mind knows it isn't because I can see there's no limb there but there's no actual pain," Ed told him as he watched Winry line up the new arm to the joint.

Winry plugged the arm into the joint with a sharp _click_, checking it carefully to make sure that everything was attached correctly and closing the fasteners that held it in place before she picked up the tool that would allow her to reconnect the nerves. "You ready?" Winry asked and Ed nodded before turning his head away from her. Reid could see he was forcing himself to stay relaxed and calm.

Winry moved quickly and the arm was connected easily and far quicker than Reid had expected it would be, though he imagined that was more because of how well-practised Winry was at connecting the limb. Ed's whole body went rigid, as if he'd been electrocuted and the blond couldn't bite back his grunt of pain as his face screwed up in a grimace. The whole thing lasted only a few seconds but it was enough time for Reid to doubt his original theory that automail might be better than Earth's prosthetics.

"Are you doing okay?" Winry asked and Ed nodded after a moment as his body slowly relaxed, although his eyes were still filled with pain and his breathing was slightly raspy as he struggled to get control of himself.

"Never better," he said, though his voice held a note of pain. "You ready to do my leg yet?" Ed asked and Winry sighed.

"You're a glutton for punishment," she told him before moving away from side, passing between Reid and the foot of the bed. "You need to lay flat," she told him, carefully helping him to shift positions again so that he was lying down, giving her easy access to his leg. Once he was positioned where she wanted him, she knelt on the floor next to the bed. "I'm disconnecting it now," she warned like she did for the arm. Ed nodded and soon enough, Winry had the leg disconnected. "Can you put this next to his old arm?" Winry asked Reid, who nodded and took the leg from her.

"I didn't realise it was so heavy," Reid exclaimed after letting out a grunt of exertion when Winry relinquished the leg to him.

"There's a ton of tiny, intricate pieces in there and it's made of heavy steel. What were you expecting?" Winry asked, as if it should've been obvious as she fussed over Ed's leg joint.

"But Ed's footsteps sound almost even and I've seen him hit someone with his automail arm and not even bruise them," Reid said, sounding a little strained as he carried the automail limb over to the case and deposited it next to the arm.

"Ed has had his limbs for nearly seven years, if you include the year he spent getting used to having automail. He's gotten very used to their weight and despite the heaviness of the leg, he can still sneak up on unsuspecting automail mechanics," Winry glared daggers at Ed, who was trying not to laugh at her irritated tone.

"I haven't done that for ages," Ed said defensively, though his obvious amusement didn't help his case.

"Five months is not 'ages', Edward Elric," Winry growled before looking at Reid. "Alright, he'll probably try to curl onto his side when I connect his leg. You need to make sure he doesn't do that. Keep him flat on the bed, but don't put any of your weight on his right shoulder or arm. You'll have to brace him across the chest and his left arm. He can't put any pressure on his joints for a couple of minutes, no matter what he says otherwise," Winry said, her last sentence obviously aimed at Edward.

"Whatever you reckon, Winry," Ed muttered as Reid moved over to stand on Ed's left. They watched as Winry lined up the limb with the connection joint, ready to install it. The leg slid home with another _click_, and again she started double checking the connection and closing up the fasteners.

"You need to relax, Ed, or it'll hurt far worse," Winry reminded him and Ed nodded before taking deliberately controlled breaths. Reid saw the tension in Ed's body relax immediately and after a minute of steady breathing, he barely looked tense. Winry got Reid's attention and held up three fingers, mouthing the words 'on three'. Reid nodded and put his hands on Ed's chest and left arm as Winry had instructed him to do. He wasn't sure how she was going to stop him from moving his right leg, but after a moment he realised that she had changed her position to kneeling on the bed at his feet, with his right foot pinned between her leg and the wall.

Winry placed her hand on the limb, to brace herself, and slipped the tool into its slot. She looked at Reid and began mouthing her countdown. _"One,"_ she said, adjusting her position to make sure Ed's right leg was securely pinned. _"Two,"_ she mouthed, tightening her grip on the tool and bracing her hand against the automail knee. "_Three," _she finally mouthed to Reid as she pulled hard, tightening the final connection to engage the nerves.

Two things happened as she did that; Reid pushed down hard against Ed's chest and arm as the alchemist jerked reflexively, his whole body going rigid with tension again, just as Mustang opened the door with no warning and Ed's State Alchemist title halfway out of his mouth. This time, Ed couldn't hold back his pain-filled cry as the leg was connected and he would've leaped off the bed if it weren't for Reid and Winry holding him down.

Mustang was left standing in the open doorway with his mouth open as he stared at the tableau. Edward was shaking with tension and pain as he tried to suppress his reaction to the nerve connection, Reid had his whole upper body flattened against Edward's chest to keep him pinned down, and Winry had let go of her tool and was keeping Edward's legs pinned to the bed with her weight.

"A little warning next time would be appreciated, Winry," Ed gasped as he waited for his nerves to settle down so he could sit up again. "And for the love of everything, please tell me I only imagined Mustang barging into your room," Ed asked, groaning when the following silence answered his question as Reid and Winry let go of him so that he could relax. "I'm assuming you _do _have a reason for barging into Winry's bedroom, Mustang?" Ed asked, finally opening his eyes and sitting up, ignoring Winry's strangled protests. Since he couldn't put weight on his left arm without straining the bullet wound and stitched gash, he was placing all his weight on his newly connected automail arm until he was upright enough to curl his right leg under his left and not rely on his arms. All outward signs of pain were gone but those who knew where to look could still see he was hurting. "Well?" he asked, glaring at Mustang.

"I came up here on behalf of Alphonse and Pinako to find out how long you were going to be. Pinako is ready to start cooking dinner," Mustang said, an expression on his face that Ed couldn't decipher. "I didn't realise you were planning on having your automail replaced this evening. I thought you would've waited until tomorrow," Mustang told them, a slightly apologetic tone his voice but Ed ignored it for the moment.

"That makes it okay to barge into Winry's room without knocking?" Ed asked and Mustang shot him an irritated look that Ed had no trouble identifying.

"You barge into my office all the time without knocking, Fullmetal," Mustang reminded him.

"That's not the same thing and you know it," Ed sniped back, wincing as his nerves decided to remind him that they were still sore. Mustang looked a little worried before he smoothed his expression back to one of impassiveness. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. Just tell Granny and Al I got my new set connected. They'll know how long I'll be," Ed instructed.

"Fine," Mustang said with a stiff nod. "I apologise for the interruption, Miss Rockbell," Mustang said to Winry, dipping his head in apology before leaving the room.

"Well, that was awkward," Winry said, causing Reid and Ed to snort as Ed shifted from a sitting position to standing next to the bed and started testing his new limbs. "You know, I wasn't kidding about resting for a minute or two. It would do you some good to actually listen to your mechanic every now and then," Winry scolded, puffing up in irritation when all Ed did was roll his eyes.

"Damn, these are so much lighter than my old set," Ed said as he nearly toppled over from overcompensating for the weight of the limbs.

"I told you so," Winry crowed proudly as she packed up the old limbs and placed the case out of the way. "What do you think to the movement? Do they still feel right?" Winry asked as Ed did what he could of his normal stretches, limited by the fact that he couldn't really use his left arm above shoulder level.

"Yeah, they feel good. This is probably your best set yet, Win," Ed praised her as he shook himself to loosen his muscles a little more. Winry practically glowed from the compliment.

"So, what will you do with the old set?" Reid asked as Ed started getting dressed again.

"I'll take them apart and see where I can improve them. Might end up cannibalising some of the internal parts but it'll eventually get melted down so I can re-use the metal for other automail limbs," Winry told him, sounding sad that her work would be destroyed. "Most of my customers don't need the customisation I put into Ed's, since they don't travel all over the country in all weather. _They_ also don't constantly break their automail by getting into avoidable fights. At least I can do that with this set since it's in one piece," Winry said, aiming her sharp words over her shoulder to Ed.

"I wouldn't complain, Winry, or I might go out of my way to destroy this set," Ed threatened and Winry whirled around with her wrench in hand.

"You better not, Edward Elric, or you won't live to regret it," she growled and Ed held his hands up in surrender.

"Then don't bitch when you get an old set back in one piece," Ed said as he carefully tugged on his black jacket and slipping into his boots. Reid passed him his sling, which Ed took with a thankful smile and slipped over his head before placing his left arm in it securely.

"You know, you shouldn't keep getting yourself in fights. One of these days, you're gonna get too badly hurt," Winry said as she watched him adjust his sling and the bandage around his neck.

"I'm fine, Winry. You know my missions can get dangerous but I have Al with me and normally a hospital nearby if I desperately need one," Ed said with a tone that suggested this wasn't the first time they'd had this argument.

"Are you going to renew your contract?" Winry asked bluntly. Her body language made it no secret what she wanted Ed's answer to be.

"I haven't decided. Grumman wants to talk to me about it when I get back," Ed told her. She went to say something but Ed stopped her with a look. "The only person who has the final say in whether I renew that contract or not is me, Winry. I know you don't like me going on missions after rogue alchemists and serial killers but it's what I'm good at and I can help people doing it. I'm happy to listen to what you and Al have to say about my contract but it is ultimately my decision. You are not my mother, Winry, and as much as I love you and value our friendship, you don't get to dictate my future for me," Ed told her firmly.

"You love me?" Winry asked, tears welling in her eyes and Ed rolled his fondly.

"Course I do, Win. You're the crazy sister I never wanted and didn't know I needed. I wouldn't put up with your abuse if I didn't love you," Ed teased and the tears that had seemed so close to falling from Winry's eyes dried up as she threw her wrench at his head, though Ed did manage to duck it.

"You're an arse," she snarled though Reid could tell she didn't mean it and judging from the smirk on his face, Ed knew that as well. "Get out of my workshop before I hit you," Winry ordered and Ed swept up his red jacket before jokingly saluting her.

"Come on, Reid, you heard the crazy gearhead," Ed said, pulling Reid out Winry's room quickly and closing the door in time to hear Winry's second-most favourite wrench hit the door. "Don't forget Granny's started dinner," Ed said, poking his head back into her room and shutting the door just in time to hear what he thought was a screwdriver hit it.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Reid asked as Ed rolled his right shoulder and shook his left leg, trying to get his nerves to calm down further as they were still sensitive and the muscles around the joints were tight.

"Yeah, just need to get over the reconnection. It's a bitch on my nerves every bloody time," Ed said as he led Reid down the stairs.

"_Are you alright?"_ Black asked, butting into his mind and causing Ed to flinch slightly.

"Where were you? I expected you and the others to be all over my case when you sensed my pain," Ed asked. Reid's confused face told him he'd accidentally spoken out loud and he rubbed his right hand against his face. "Lions," Ed said, pointing to his temple and Reid nodded in understanding.

"_I'm sorry, Ed. Voltron was needed for an emergency rescue mission. We didn't have the time to tell you and we only just got back to the Castle-ship. All of us felt your pain but we had to focus on the mission,"_ Blue told him, voice dripping in apology and Ed felt himself soften.

"_**It's alright, I understand. I just got my new automail limbs connected and it wreaks havoc on my nerves, that's all. How'd the mission go?"**_ Ed asked, leaning against the wall closest to him. Reid mimicked him on the other side, apparently deciding to stay with him until the conversation was over.

"_It was successful. No one was hurt and none of our robot forms were damaged. The aliens who were trapped were freed without injury and the Castle-ship was offered supplies as payment, which was excellent because we were starting to run out of a few things this planet supplied us with,"_ Yellow told him, voice buzzing with pride in a job well-done. Ed felt himself smile.

"_**That's awesome, guys,"**_ Ed praised and felt the Lions all puff up in pride.

"_Are you sure you're alright? I can still feel twinges of pain coming through our bond,"_ Blue asked, worry nearly overtaking her tone.

"_**Sorry,"**_ Ed winced slightly in apology. This was one of the few times he hated their bond. He and the Lions could share pain, though both parties tried their damnedest to make sure that didn't happen. _**"My nerves are still settling after the connection of the new limbs. It'll get less painful in a few minutes and by morning, I won't feel any pain or aches at all,"**_ Ed reassured them and the Lions hummed in relief.

"_We're glad to hear that but you don't need to apologise for your pain coming through the bond. Sometimes we can't help it either,"_ Black told him. Ed nodded in acknowledgment and didn't say anything else on the matter.

"_**I'm glad you're alright and I want all the details later but I should go and see if the others need any help,"**_ Ed said, tone slightly apologetic but the Lions smothered that feeling.

"_There's no need to be sorry for that either, cub,"_ Green told him. _"We'll talk to you later. I'm sure our pilots will want to talk to you as well,"_ she said and Ed could feel her smile through the bond.

"_**Good, because I wanna talk to them too,"**_ Ed said with a grin, looking forward to being able to speak with his friends though he did feel the familiar pang of sadness that he couldn't do so without the Lions acting as a phone. The Lions backed off the bond slightly with another goodbye so Ed couldn't hear all of their thoughts but could certainly sense them better than before. "Alright, Reid, let's go and see what everyone's up to," Ed said before leading the way down the stairs, Reid following close behind. Moments later they reached the bottom step and emerged into the lounge room where everyone was waiting.

A/N- And here is chapter 28 for you all! As always, many thanks to my wonderful beta, PhoenixQueen, for all her hard work on this chapter! Also, many, many thanks to those wonderful people who have left reviews on this chapter. Especially to WellRoundedFandom and APridefulSin! Thank you to everyone else who has left reviews. I really do love each and every review I get and I am grateful to everyone who has been reading this story. Please let me know what you thought to this chapter! See you next week!


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

The agents were gathered around the lounge in small groups, talking in low tones. A pile of thin mattresses had been left in one corner, and a small mountain of blankets and pillows sitting on top of the stack. As Edward and Reid entered the room, his uneven footsteps (he was limping due to the lingering ache from the nerve connection) caught their attention and they all looked up.

"Brother!" Al said, sounding surprised to see him downstairs so quickly. Ed gave him a grin as he surveyed the lounge and noted everyone except Mustang and Hawkeye were present. Well, Pinako wasn't there either but Ed could hear her pottering in the kitchen so he knew where she was. "Are you alright?" Al asked, suddenly appearing next to Ed and causing the older Elric to flinch slightly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You know how it goes," Ed said vaguely, not really wanting to cause the five agents who weren't in Winry's room with him any distress because of him. He wasn't as successful as he'd hoped to be.

"What happened?" Prentiss asked as she and JJ stood and headed straight for the brothers.

"Are you alright?" JJ started fussing over Ed, even though she didn't even know there was something hurting him.

Ed looked pleadingly at his younger brother, hoping that Al would step in to save him from the women. Unfortunately, his pleading look changed to a scowl when – not only did Al look like he had no inclination to help Edward – he actually looked like he was going to join JJ and Emily in their mother-henning. Another glance for any support in his immediate vicinity showed that Reid had retreated to join the other BAU agents, abandoning Ed to the fretting of Prentiss, JJ and his own brother.

"I'm fine," Ed said, answering JJ first since doing so seemed like the best way to calm them all down in the quickest amount of time. "I had a new set of automail connected and it always causes some aches and stuff. It really is nothing to worry about," Ed told them with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Neither woman looked overly convinced but Al relaxed, causing Ed to frown at him.

"What?" Al asked, giving Ed his own confused look when he noticed Ed's expression.

"Didn't Mustang tell you? He came barging into Winry's workshop because you and Granny wanted our ETA. I told him to tell you I was getting a new set installed," Ed said, voice leaning more towards annoyance with his boss than confusion with Al's reaction.

"Oh, no, he told us but I was still worried. I always worry when you get a new set of limbs attached," Al confided, a little sheepishly.

"Really? I've never noticed," Ed said. "There's no need for you to worry though. Winry does know what she's doing, at least when it comes to automail," Ed joked, causing Al to roll his eyes.

"One of these days she is going to kill you with her wrench and I'm just going to let her, you know," Al said. Ed was about ninety percent certain his younger brother was joking about that. "Also, you never noticed because you haven't had a set replaced since Promised Day. I mean, there was the exception of the arm that Father destroyed, of course, but I was in a coma for that, and I couldn't really show emotion before Promised Day, so I never told you I was worried," Al told him, shrugging a shoulder nonchalantly.

"Breathe, Al," Ed said firmly as he processed his brother's response. "And you do make a good point but I'm still fine, just like I have been every other time I get my automail replaced," Ed said firmly. "But going back to Mustang; where are he and the Captain anyway?" Ed asked and Al nodded towards the front veranda.

"Captain Hawkeye asked to speak with him privately once he came back downstairs," Al told him and Ed took a moment to wonder what exactly Hawkeye would need to talk to Mustang about before deciding she would tell him if she thought it was his business.

"I hope she doesn't make a mess if she kills him. I don't want to alchemise Mustang's blood off the veranda," Ed commented flatly and Al smacked him in the shoulder, though not as hard as was probably warranted.

"You're not funny," Al informed him though he didn't look cross enough to really back-up his words.

"I'm hilarious and you know it," Ed said, ruffling Al's hair, though he was cautious about his brother's head wound.

"No, you're not." Everyone turned to the front door when Mustang spoke and Ed scowled.

"Shut your mouth, Mustang. You wouldn't know funny if it hit you in the face," Ed snarled, scowling even more when Mustang seemed completely unfazed by his words.

"If getting your automail changed for a new set hurts your nerves, should you even be walking around?" JJ asked, hoping to avoid a fight between the two alchemists and because she really was genuinely concerned.

"If he _listened_ to his mechanic like he is supposed to, no. What he _should_ be doing is resting for an hour or so but he never does as he's told." Ed groaned when he heard Winry's voice behind him.

"Miss JJ, Miss Emily, meet Winry. Winry, meet two of the BAU agents who helped Mustang and I in America and who Truth kidnapped to help me get Mustang's sorry arse out of jail," Ed introduced the women, stepping to the side so Winry could get past him. "And you know damn well I don't need to rest after a new set have been connected. The best way for me to get over those aches is to spar," Ed snapped at her as she walked past him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Winry. We've heard quite a bit about you and your job as an automail mechanic," JJ said with a pleasant smile, extending her hand to the mechanic. Winry shocked the blonde agent by using her hand to pull her into a hug.

"It's so nice to be able to meet you at last! Thank you for making sure my idiot best friend didn't get himself killed while he was in your country," Winry said as she hugged JJ tightly before giving Prentiss a similar treatment.

"I can look after myself, you know," Ed muttered and Winry gave him a flat look.

"Knowing you, if you'd been there by yourself you would've insulted someone and gotten yourself arrested or killed. Truth might've gotten you out of it the first time, since you were there doing it a favour, but not the second time," Winry said as if it were a given fact.

"She's not wrong," Mustang said with a laugh. To Ed's surprise, he wasn't the only to shoot Mustang a glare. Both Winry and Hawkeye did as well.

"All due respect, Sir, but you would've wound up in a prison cell first," Hawkeye said impassively and Ed could've sworn he heard Mustang make a wounded noise of betrayal.

"Captain Hawkeye?" Mustang's questioning tone was enough for Hawkeye – and everyone else – to know what he was really asking.

"You were the first out of the pair of you to be arrested and placed in a holding cell. There's no reason to believe it wouldn't have been the same in America, had you not had the BAU or NCIS teams helping you navigate their world," Hawkeye informed him. Ed was impressed that she was even using Mustang's arrest against him so soon and in the teasing way Ed thought she was using it.

"I was framed! That hardly counts," Mustang said defensively, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Of course, Sir," Hawkeye said smoothly though her tone told everyone she was really saying 'if that's what you want to believe'.

"_It goes without saying that we need to meet her as well,"_ Red said and Ed rolled his eyes.

"_**Should I be making a list?"**_ Ed asked sarcastically, making sure to keep the conversation telepathic this time.

"_Probably would be a good idea,"_ Green told him and Ed shook his head fondly before focusing back on everyone else.

"Wait, that's not true," Mustang said triumphantly after a moment. When they all looked at him, he elaborated. "Fullmetal and Alphonse were both put in the Briggs' holding cells by General Armstrong! So they were the first ones to be arrested."

Edward scoffed. "Sorry to dash your argument with reality, bastard, but Al and I were never _arrested_. We were just detained for bypassing the northern command centre while she verified our story and to protect us from Raven and Kimblee after she realised we were telling the truth."

Mustang stared at him looking like he wasn't sure how to refute Ed's words.

"_Plus_, you remember what our first meeting with the BAU was like. _My_ first reaction was to make sure we didn't get shot whereas yours was to ready an attack," Ed said.

"They were holding guns on us!" Mustang exclaimed defensively, scowling at Ed.

"We appeared out of literally nowhere. I would've been more surprised if their first reaction _wasn't _to hold weapons on us," Ed snarked back.

"You questioned us about that, if I remember correctly," Hotch said, watching the pair with amusement.

"I was actually genuinely curious if that was the way all strangers were greeted in your country," Ed divulged. "Would've been handy to know if that would happen again if we didn't stick with you lot."

"That's a fair question. We didn't realise your countrymen were so on top of your border security so we didn't expect to be detained when we arrived in Resembool," Prentiss said conversationally. "Especially after what you told us before you left last time. You told us to find a military officer and ask to speak to you or General Mustang, and that's what we did."

"You got lucky," Mustang told them. "While it wasn't legal, it also wasn't unheard of for Amestrian soldiers to shoot people from Drachma or any of our other neighbours' countrymen on sight without checking to see if they had the legal papers required and without provocation. Very often, our late Führer King Bradley wouldn't do anything to punish the soldier involved either, citing that the soldier acted in defence of our borders. Führer Grumman has enforced our border security laws so anyone who does kill a foreign person will be held accountable unless it was proven to have been done in self-defence." Mustang saw a couple of the BAU shift a little uncomfortably at the thought.

"Well, _that_ got dark pretty quickly," Winry said before hitting Ed on his automail arm. "You haven't finished introducing me to everyone," she complained as Ed rolled his eyes at her.

"You keep telling not to damage my automail and then you go and hit it yourself. Hypocrite," Ed said before remedying her complaint before she could retaliate further. "Winry, these are the rest of the BAU members who turned up in Amestris; Morgan, Hotch and Rossi and you know Reid already. Guys, this is Winry." Ed's introduction sounded slightly bored and rehearsed but Winry let it slide since she figured it had more to do with the fact that Ed had probably introduced them dozens of times the past week and less to do with her.

"Pleasure to meet you all," Winry said as she extended her hand. She could've sworn she'd seen relief on some of the agents' faces but it was gone too quickly for her to be sure.

"The pleasure is ours, Miss Rockbell," Hotch said, retracting his hand once he'd shaken hers.

"Winry, please," she said with a smile, ignoring Ed's mutter of "_Now_ you have manners," for the most part. She did shoot him a glare that promised retribution at a later date that had him look a little nervous, making her feel a lot better.

"Then the pleasure is ours, Winry," Morgan amended with a grin that had Winry faintly blush and Ed roll his eyes as he went over to whisper something to Al, who nodded in response.

"I haven't told them any embarrassing stories about you from our childhood but that _will_ change if I find out you _have_ when we get back," Ed warned Winry as he and Al headed for the door. Den looked up expectantly from his spot on the veranda as they approached.

"Where are you two heading?" JJ asked. Al glanced at Ed before answering her.

"To visit our parents' graves," he told her before looking at Winry. "Would you mind telling Granny that we'll be back before dark please?" Winry nodded.

"Don't get yourselves into trouble and if you happen to see Mr. Stevens on your walk, can you remind him that he has a check-up with Granny in three days' time? You know what his memory is like these days," Winry said and Al gave her a smile.

"Sure thing, Winry," Al said agreeably. "Come on, Brother." Al grabbed Ed's automail arm to tug him forward.

"You _do_ know I can walk by myself, right?" Ed snarked at his brother before looking down at Den. "You gonna join us?" Den yapped excitedly as he clambered to his feet and joined the brothers at the bottom of the stairs. "We'll be back in a couple of hours," Ed said, looking back up to everyone in the house before he, Al and Den started down the driveway.

* * *

There had always been an unspoken agreement between the brothers that neither would speak to the other unless it was truly important on the walk to their mother's grave. The agreement had been upheld the few times that managed to visit both their parents' graves after Hohenheim had passed away. Their father had passed away just a few days after Promised Day, and in typical fashion had slipped away quietly while Ed and Al were being checked into the hospital. Granny had written a letter to Ed after she had discovered Hohenheim's body kneeling in front of Trisha's grave, and they'd made a trip out to Resembool as soon as Al had been allowed to travel and they could have a memorial service for him. In the initial days following Hohenheim's funeral, the only thing Ed could think was that at least he had waited to die until after he said goodbye to Alphonse. He'd grieved violently over Hohenheim's death in private and he was certain only Al knew exactly how violently he'd expressed his feelings over his father's death after years of trying to deny any relation to him at all.

This unspoken rule was only broken if their old neighbours saw them on their walk to the graveyard and called out greetings, since they didn't want to be rude. They did end up running into Mr. Stevens on their way and Al did as Winry had asked and reminded the old man about his appointment. He'd grumpily waved them off, muttering about his memory not being completely gone and that he knew how to take care of himself. Ed and Al had managed to hold their giggles in until they were around the next corner.

When they finally reached the graveyard – Ed now armed with wildflowers for their mother and Alphonse with a small bunch for their father – the first thing they did was clear any weeds or dirt off the two headstones. Naturally, they didn't have to do much restoration for Hohenheim's headstone since it hadn't been exposed to the elements for as long as Trisha's had been. Once both boys were happy with their efforts, they put the flowers in front of the grave markers and started talking.

Well, Al started talking to both of their parents' grave markers. Ed, despite having had his violent, grief-filled outburst only weeks after Hohenheim's funeral – something he'd been sorely tempted to miss by asking Mustang to order him on a bogus, incredibly important mission but he resisted only because of Al – still hadn't managed to forgive their father for abandoning them and their mother. Hohenheim's actions during Promised Day had gone a long way to softening Ed's hatred for him but there was only so much forgiveness Ed could give the man for those last few months after spending years despising the man and cursing his very name and that forgiveness was not enough to absolve him of his sins in his eldest son's eyes.

Alphonse knew how Ed still felt about their father but he had long since given up trying to persuade Ed into forgiving him, even before Hohenheim's death. It only led to massive arguments between the two of them and neither one liked being that mad at each other. Even though they hadn't broached the subject during the walk, Al knew that if his brother joined him in talking to their parents, he would only talk to their mother. Al wouldn't sigh or try and force him to talk to their father but that wouldn't stop him from hoping that maybe one day, Ed would at least greet him.

Since they hadn't visited Resembool – Ed's day excursion to pick up the BAU excluded – since a week after Ed and Mustang's second trip to America, the boys started telling Hohenheim and Trisha everything that had happened since then. Al had been surprised with how quickly it had taken Ed to join in on his storytelling but he didn't dare comment on it, lest it stop. Ed laughed as Al described his panic then exasperation that Ed and Mustang had managed to get themselves in another dimension before Ed made Al laugh with his emphatic "Imagine how I felt when I found myself in space and talking to mechanical Lion spaceships!"

They finally started telling their parents' headstones about the most recent events, backtracking a little to start with Chambers' murder before the Voltron adventure before fast-forwarding to Bryce's murder and going from there. Ed could feel the Lions as he spoke but they were distant and Ed realised pretty quickly that it was out of respect for him and Al and he sent them a silent thank you. Den lazed in between the two boys and ended up being used as a pillow by Ed, not even flinching as the blond lay on him.

"...and now we're here to see the BAU agents off. It would've raised some awkward questions if some sharp-eyed soldier noted they hadn't been seen physically leaving Central. At least in Resembool, we can honestly say they left the way they came," Ed wrapped up their story, sitting up as he did so. A glance at Al told Ed that his brother had noticed the sun had nearly disappeared below the horizon and they would barely have enough time to get back to the Rockbells' without being late.

"We have to go now, mum and dad, but we promise to try and come visit more than we have been," Al swore as he reached forward and touched each of the headstones in front of him. Ed mimicked his moves, hesitating for a few moments before eventually letting himself lay a hand on the stone bearing Hohenheim's name.

"See you later," Ed said as he climbed to his feet, his right calf protesting as much as his nerves around his automail joint did. Al looked like he wanted to comment but stopped himself from doing so as he got to his own feet. Seeing the two boys were about to start leaving, Den clambered up and trotted over to the entrance to the graveyard before waiting for them, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

The three of them walked in silence until the graveyard was a good distance away before Alphonse decided to break the silence. "Brother, how are the BAU agents going to get home?" Ed gave him a look before answering.

"Same way they got here, Al. It's not like there's a train they can catch from here to America," Ed said, a little bemused that Al would even ask.

"No, Brother, I meant _how_ are they going to get home? Is Truth going to take them in their sleep or will we have to use _that_ array?" Al asked, giving Ed an exasperated look at the fact that he would even have to clarify the question.

"Dunno, Al. Truth's an arsehole so it could do either but it would need to tell me, you or Mustang if one of us has to activate that array. We'll know either way by tomorrow anyways," Ed said, shrugging unconcernedly. "If we wake up and there's no BAU on the cots Granny set up, we'll know Truth kidnapped them in their sleep. If one of us has a creepy, humanoid-shaped pile of static visit us in our sleep, we'll know we have to organise somewhere to use that array since I don't think Granny would appreciate us using the lounge room floor," Ed told him and Al sighed.

"Sometimes I wish you weren't so blunt when you express your thoughts about Truth. You never know if it's listening to you!" Al said in a hushed tone.

"If it's got nothing better to do with its time than eavesdrop on me, it deserves to hear what I really think of it," Ed said. "Besides, I know you agree with me."

"That's not the point!" Al exclaimed hotly, making Ed laugh at his expense and Den to start yapping from excitement at the joyous atmosphere. Al managed to keep his offended look for a second before he joined in until they were both breathless from laughing.

"I can see why you always spoke of the BAU so highly when they came up in conversation. I'll miss them when they leave," Al said, breaking the silence that had once again reigned when they managed to curb their laughter.

"Yeah, so will I," Ed said, his voice taking on a melancholic tone. "I wish you could've met Miss Penelope though. The two of you would've gotten on like crazy. That or she would've scared you," Ed said with a bark of laughter as he tried to imagine how their meeting would actually go.

"Well, from what you've said about her, I would've certainly liked to have had the opportunity to see whether we'd get along or if she'd scare me off," Al said and Ed hummed.

"She would've been bored over here though. She's very techy so the only thing we have in Amestris that could've kept her entertained would've been my tablet. Plus, she would never have put up with Widdon and Combes' behaviour and likely would've put herself and the team in hot water," Ed suddenly grinned sharply, "though I would've loved to have seen her go up against those two idiots," he laughed slightly.

"What are you planning on doing about them?" Al asked, changing the subject slightly and rolled his eyes when Edward gave him a questioning look. "I know what you're like, Ed. The way those two were behaving this whole time – and with their desperation to see General Mustang in front of a firing squad - they were hiding something and they were scared he would eventually find out about it. I know you've been helping General Mustang and Führer Grumman with their mission to weed out any of Wrath's supporters and people who use their rank to get away with illegal things." Ed sighed, scratching the back of his neck as he shrugged.

"I don't know, Al. Despite my thoughts about those two generals and my stance on ranks, I truly couldn't do anything because I'm only a lieutenant colonel," Ed's mouth twisted at the mention of his new rank, still displeased at Mustang for keeping those papers even if they _did_ come in handy, "so I would need Mustang or someone of equal rank to be the one to head any kind of investigation into them."

"So, why don't you ask General Mustang and see what his thoughts are?" Al asked and Ed shrugged his automail shoulder.

"I dunno, Al. He'll probably say something about letting the dust settle first anyways. Make it so we start investigating when the generals aren't on their toes. They'll be walking on eggshells around Mustang for a while," Ed said, sighing a little. They could see the Rockbells' home in the far distance, barely visible in the dying rays of sunlight. Ed noted that most of the windows were lit up from the lights in each room and knew Granny would be getting ready to serve everyone dinner so, after nudging Al, they sped up their pace a little. "I'll talk to Mustang after I've seen Doc Evans about my neck," Ed promised, knowing Al would pester him about it again at some stage if he didn't.

"Alright, Brother," Al said, sensing Ed really didn't want to talk about the generals anymore right now. "So, what do you think of the new automail?" Al always asked about it when Winry wasn't in earshot since Ed rarely said what he truly thought when their childhood friend was nearby. He knew that Ed knew that Al told Winry what Ed told him about them as soon as he could but Ed never said anything about it.

"They're good. She's outdone herself this time, I reckon. They're so much lighter than any of my old sets, including the cold weather set she made me when we went to Fort Briggs the first time. Of course, I'll have to test them in a spar against you or against the first idiot criminal we come across to see how they hold up against that kind of treatment but I have no doubts they'll live up to my expectations," Ed told him, bringing his automail arm up in front of him and watching his fingers open and close smoothly. "She told me she messed around with the formula for the steel she used so it should be less prone to rust than the average cold-weather set, which means she won't screech at me when you tell her I didn't immediately dry my automail after taking a shower or getting caught in the rain," Ed said, glaring at a sheepish-looking Alphonse.

"I don't want her blaming me when she finds rust in your automail during a check-up or replacement!" Al exclaimed and Ed's glare heated up.

"So you throw me under the bus to protect yourself from that witch's wrath? For shame, Alphonse. For shame," Ed tsked, shaking his head as Al giggled at his dramatics.

"Like you never did the same thing when we were kids," Al chuckled and Ed grinned.

"Yeah, true," Ed agreed before laughing again when Den barked at them to hurry up. "We should hurry before Granny decides to not keep us any dinner," Ed said, wincing as he remembered her doing that a couple of times after their mother had passed and they'd gotten back from Dublith but before the night of the failed transmutation.

"Yes, we certainly wouldn't want you to miss out on your dinner. You might attack someone because of your hunger!" Al said cheekily, earning himself an automail fist to the shoulder, though Ed was nice enough to make sure it wouldn't bruise.

"That was one time!" Ed yelled as Al cackled maniacally at his reaction, dodging Ed's follow-up punch he'd thrown because of Al's laughter.

Den gave them up as lost causes and continued further up the path, tail wagging slowly as he found the driveway and headed up it, anxious for his own dinner. Ed and Al noticed they were being left behind and soon they were moving at a light jog, thanks to Ed's stitched calf, until they were both walking next to Den once more. They continued exchanging teasing and snarky comments as they walked up the driveway, the pale dusk giving way to the night sky as they headed for lights glowing softly from their childhood home-away-from-home.

* * *

"You boys are lucky," Pinako said, taking a drag from her pipe. "Another few minutes and you wouldn't have a place at the table." Both boys were standing just inside the front door, taking off their shoes and coats.

"Sorry, Granny," Al apologised before softly hitting Ed when he wasn't immediately forthcoming with one of his own.

"What he said," Ed muttered, glaring at Al as he rubbed the back of his head. "Have you put Den's food out or do you want me to do that?" Ed asked, noting the dog hadn't left their side yet. Pinako saw his offer for what it really was.

"No, he hasn't had his dinner yet," she said, nodding in the direction she kept his food. "Knock yourself out."

"Come on, Den," Ed said, ruffling the dog's ears as he walked back out to the veranda. Den didn't need any more convincing and following Ed, almost tripping him up in his haste to get to his bowl. "Settle down, you. It's not like you've never been fed," Ed chuckled as Den's enthusiasm as he poured the appropriate amount in his bowl, made him sit before giving him the green light and heading back inside to find everyone sitting in any space they could find, a plate of steaming food in front of them.

"Quickly, Brother, or it'll all be gone!" Al called from where he sat on the floor in front of the couch.

Ed didn't ignore his warning and made his way to the kitchen, weaving between the agents and Elysia as he went. His eyes were caught by Hawkeye's cast. The captain had obviously given into Elysia's pleading because the top two-thirds of the cast was no longer pristine white. The only reason the military would know anything about the not-quite regulation cast would be if Hawkeye took her uniform jacket off while on duty – which she never did – so she wouldn't get into trouble for it.

"Thanks for dinner, Granny," Ed said as he was handed a plate of chicken parmigiana and vegetables by the old woman.

"You're welcome, Ed. You'll be helping Alphonse and Winry clear up afterwards," Pinako informed and Ed huffed, having expected that.

"Big brother Ed, come and sit next to me and mama," Elysia ordered, jumping a little excitably on her spot on the floor in front of the chair Gracia was sitting on.

"What are you, my boss?" Ed grumbled good-naturedly as he did as she bade, making her giggle.

"We know she's not your commanding officer because you wouldn't listen to her if she was," Mustang smirked.

"I'll think you'll find, Mustang, that it's just you," Ed snarked back, removing his sling and black jacket before joining Elysia on the floor. His flesh arm twinged slightly as it straightened out but he ignored it as he started digging into his dinner, just like he ignored the glare Mustang gave him in response to his quip.

"The agents mentioned something about you guys having a celebratory dinner last night. How was that?" Gracia asked when no one seemed to know how to break the silence with Elysia in the room.

"It was great. We went to that restaurant near the bookstore Al and I like. You know the Cretan one?" Ed said and Gracia nodded.

"Oh, that one looks lovely. Was it good?" Gracia asked and Al nodded.

"Probably one of the better Cretan restaurants we've tried yet, hey, Ed?" Ed nodded in agreement with Al.

"Well, any Cretan restaurant is better than the one I tried in West City that one time," Ed joked though he internally shuddered at the memory.

"That bad, huh?" Morgan asked and Ed realised he mustn't have hidden his reaction as well as he'd thought.

"Ed took one bite of his meal and tossed the rest out then headed to some hole-in-the-wall diner and bought food there," Al told them. "He cussed out the Cretan restaurant the entire time he ate," he giggled as he told them.

"I stand by that diner food being some of the best things I've ever eaten," Ed told him, pointing a finger at him, smiling widely.

"I'm glad you guys had a good night," Gracia said, smiling gently and sincerely.

"Yeah, it was a good night. Brookes and Miss Sheska joined us, as well and Mustang was nice enough to pick up the tab as a thank you," Ed told her, grinning slightly as he heard Mustang's faint mutter about his bank account.

"Oh, that was very sweet of you, Roy," Gracia said, giving Mustang a proud smile, making it so Mustang couldn't say anything about practically being coerced into covering the steep bill.

"It was nothing, Gracia," Mustang said instead, giving her a smile of his own.

"I'm a little surprised you invited Lieutenant Colonel Brookes along though," Gracia admitted. She knew that none of them held a grudge against the lieutenant colonel for doing his job and following the leads where they took him but she still thought it was a little odd they'd invite the man who arrested Mustang to the dinner celebrating his name being cleared.

"Holy crap, we never told you," Ed said, realisation completely obvious.

"Wait, you never kept Gracia up to date with anything?" Mustang asked incredulously and Ed glared at him.

"I was too busy doing your job better than you and we were too busy trying to get you out of prison to remember to make phone calls," Ed snapped and Gracia lay a calming hand on Ed's flesh shoulder.

"It's alright, Ed, I knew you guys would've been far too busy to call us," Gracia said soothingly. "And this argument doesn't answer my question," she said pointedly, levelling Mustang with a reprimanding glare. To her smug satisfaction, Mustang had the decency to look a little sheepish.

"Brookes helped us out a lot. Gave us access to all the files before Grumman ordered the two knobhead generals to allow Brookes to turn it over. He helped with us going to the crime scenes so some of the agents could try and recreate them to get a sense of the criminal's mind and he helped us with interviews and other stuff. In fact, he was there when we figured out the unsub's identity and he made the arrest," Ed told her, craning his neck a little to give her a smile. Gracia almost said something about the insult to the two generals but she remembered what Ed had told her about them raiding the office and their visit when he and Al had gone in to check on everyone and organise train tickets and he had censored himself for Elysia so she decided to leave it.

"Brookes helped you help Uncle Roy?" Elysia asked and Ed nodded.

"He sure did, El." Elysia looked very thoughtful for a few moments before she scrambled to her feet then nearly face-planted when she tripped over Ed's automail leg. The only thing that saved her from such a fate was Ed's quick reflexes. "Careful, El," he admonished gently as he let go of the arm he'd managed to grab.

"Thanks, big brother," Elysia smiled sheepishly as Gracia leaned over Ed slightly to fuss over her daughter.

"Where were you off to in such a hurry that you couldn't look where you were going?" Gracia asked, sounding slightly exasperated now that she was sure Elysia was alright.

"I'm going to draw Mr. Brookes a picture to thank him for helping Uncle Roy, mama," Elysia said, beaming brightly. Gracia gave her a soft smile back before nodding.

"Alright, you can go and get your things," Gracia said but Ed stopped Elysia from going anywhere for the moment.

The others watched in confusion as Ed beckoned Gracia down so he could whisper something in her ear. Their confusion grew when Gracia nodded, obviously giving him permission to do something. Ed drew the small child in and had a whispered conversation with her. None of them, save Gracia, could hear what Ed was saying but Elysia was looking more excited the longer he spoke to her. Their conversation ended when Ed put a finger to his lips, grinning behind it. Elysia mimicked him before giggling and heading up the stairs.

"That'll keep her entertained long enough to give us time to fill in you guys about what happened," Ed said the moment Elysia was out of earshot.

"What did you have her go do?" Mustang asked and Ed scowled at him, though everyone noted it wasn't his normal scowl. This one was full of amusement and playfulness.

"Can't tell you. It's a secret," Ed told him, grinning when Mustang returned his scowl, though the older alchemist's scowl was certainly one of irritation. Gracia nudged his back with her leg gently.

"So, what happened?" she asked when Ed turned as much as his ribs would allow him to so he could see what she wanted.

"Well, once I left Granny's after dropping you and Elysia off, I had the Lions silence our bond so I wouldn't be distracted by them while we were working. I made it back to town when I promised McBride I would and he led me to the holding cells in town," Ed told them before continuing to describe what happened after that.

He told them of his complete shock at seeing the agents in the cells before getting his wits about him enough to use his refined tracking array to make sure they were definitely who he thought they were. Once he was sure of their identities, Ed told the three women about how he had McBride release them and commandeered his interview room to try and figure out how they'd managed to get to Amestris and his initial horror when he heard it was Truth's doing.

"We still don't know exactly how it plans on taking them home," Ed admitted.

"What do you mean, Ed?" JJ asked, looking confused. "Wouldn't it just snatch us up the same way it did in America?"

"Maybe," Ed said. "The thing about Truth is that it's an arsehole. You cannot predict what it'll do because it's just as likely to turn around and do the opposite. It uses loopholes and has perfected the art of saying one thing but meaning another." Ed paused for a moment before continuing. "The two times it has taken me, it did so while I was awake and aware of my surroundings but it changed the way I returned home both times. The first time, after Harding, it invaded my sleep and told me I had to use the array, remember?" The agents nodded. There was no way they were going to forget the massive eye opening in the floor or the dozens of pitch-black hands that appeared. "Well, it simply kidnapped me and Mustang when we'd fallen asleep on the Castle-ship after we completed the mission with Voltron. I couldn't tell you which way it'll use to take you guys back or if it'll even use one of those methods. We just have to wait and see," Ed said with a sigh.

"Once you found out Truth was the one who sent them, you obviously got them released into your custody. What happened after that?" Gracia pressed, trying to move the subject along since Elysia's mission wouldn't keep her upstairs all night.

"Yeah, I did. We headed for the hotel and camped there for the night," Ed told them before launching into a recap about the train ride and meeting Brosh in the train station and realising that Armstrong waking up from the coma would likely give the generals what they needed to try and rush the trial. "We headed straight for Grumman's office once we said bye to Brosh and located Browning," Ed said.

"Who's Browning?" Winry asked, not recognising the name.

"Oh, he's a sergeant assigned to the military carpool. He was my driver quite a few times during this whole debacle," Ed explained and Winry nodded before making impatient gestures for him to continue. He did do but not before he rolled his eyes at her. "We made it to Grumman's office and Miss Samantha let me interrupt the meeting Grumman was having with Widdon and Combes." Since neither Granny nor Winry reacted to their names, Ed assumed Gracia had told them about the office raid. "I personally think Miss Samantha wanted to cause some trouble for them," Ed said, grinning slightly before recapping his conversation with Grumman and the two generals and the introduction of the BAU to Grumman.

"I'm honestly surprised to hear you were so mellow while in the generals' presence, Ed," Pinako admitted and Ed laughed.

"Yeah, I held back a bit since I didn't want to give the generals any reason to force Grumman to not allow the BAU to help," Ed told her.

"Good decision," Pinako said, relighting her pipe and drawing in a breath as she relaxed. "What happened next?"

Ed told them about introducing the BAU to Mustang's team and Alphonse. But after he finished telling them about that, Alphonse took over, telling everyone what had happened while Ed was in Resembool. Hawkeye then took over when Al was finished to tell everyone about the first day the BAU were in the office. Mustang was the only one who didn't really speak, for the obvious reason that his stories would be mainly the same thing; he waited in his cell for any news from the teams.

Between Ed, Al, Hawkeye and the BAU, it didn't them very long to get through the events of each day. Morgan poked fun at Reid for geeking out at the labs again before stuttering slightly when Al asked with fake hurt and confusion what was so bad about wanting to learn about things in the laboratory. Morgan hadn't been impressed when he realised Al was having him on and pouted until it was his turn to talk again.

Rossi took point in talking about the interview with General Armstrong, though Ed was more than happy to be the one to repeat what she'd called Mustang, who took great offence to being called a 'soft-hearted, flirtatious, egotistical womanizer' but neither Hawkeye nor Gracia came to his defence about it. They continued talking through the different events and interviews that happened, Prentiss doing so with far more grumbling as she remembered the numerous painful interviews she and Havoc had conducted. Both Ed and Hawkeye spoke about the raid on Mustang's house from their perspectives.

To his surprise, Ed learned he hadn't been the only one worried about whether they would manage to clear Mustang's name before the case went to trial. Even Alphonse and Hawkeye had admitted to harbouring their own doubts. Before he knew it, Hawkeye was telling them about the afternoon she and Al took Black Hayate for a walk and what had occurred on their way back to Central Command. Predictably, none of the women were happy when they heard that Alphonse had been knocked out or that Hawkeye had been kidnapped.

"I promise I'm fine! Seriously, Winry, the worst injury I got was the head wound and it's healing up nicely! I'll be going for a check-up the same time Ed does for his neck wound." Al tried valiantly to hold Winry back from checking him over herself with his reassuring words but you didn't have to be Winry's best friend to know she was half a second from launching out of her chair. Pinako beat her to it, though, and grasped Al's chin to tilt his head to the side to look at the neatly stitched wound herself. Although both women had known from the phone calls the boys had made before Mustang was released, Ed and Al hadn't told them the extent of their injuries so it was a surprise for them to learn about Al's head wound.

"It looks fine. Winry, stop trying to attack the boy," Pinako ordered, tapping Winry on the head with her pipe as she shuffled back to her lounge chair. "What happened after you blacked out, Al?" Pinako asked, puffing on her pipe once more as Winry settle back in her spot. The look she shot Al for not telling him right away made him gulp in fear.

"I was found and rushed to the hospital. Ed and the others were informed about what happened and when I woke up, Brother, Doctor Reid, Lieutenant Ross and Agent Jareau were in the room with me," Al told her.

Sensing they weren't satisfied with that explanation; Ed took that as his cue to fill in the blanks a little more so he did. He told them about getting the phone call and rushing to the hospital with Ross, JJ and Reid before finding Al's doctor and getting the scope of his injuries. Once Evans had told him everything, Ed said he and the other went into Al's room and waited for him wake up.

"Once he did, he told us everything that happened and we got the lead that broke open the case," Ed told them.

"So, the killer was a woman?" Gracia asked, slightly stunned to hear that. Female serial killers in America might've been rare but they were practically non-existent in Amestris.

"They were," Ed confirmed. "Now-former Major Leah Belmont. Using the personal journals written by Captain Hawkeye's father, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Chambers' journals and a list of soldiers appointed to 'Major' during the ceremony he held after Promised Day, we managed to uncover her name and identified her from the sketch Major Armstrong had drawn from Al's description." Ed was fully prepared to keep the retelling going from their but Gracia interrupted.

"What happened in between though? How did you get Riza's father's journals and when did you realise Belmont was a soldier promoted to major during that ceremony?" Ed almost groaned. He'd not wanted to tell them about the in between stuff for a reason. Before he could say anything, Mustang spoke up.

"They visited me. Agent Jareau and Havoc were the ones who I told about the journals and after Fullmetal got the sketch from Major Armstrong and had visited Captain Hawkeye's apartment with Doctor Reid, he and Agent Morgan paid me a visit. I recognised the person in the sketch as someone who Führer Grumman promoted to the rank of major during the ceremony but I couldn't recall her name. Fullmetal took that information and paid Führer Grumman a visit," Mustang informed her and Ed almost breathed a sigh of relief. He would admit he'd been worried that Hotch or one of the other agents, even Mustang himself, might tell the women about what happened when Ed had informed Mustang of Hawkeye's kidnapping and he really didn't think it needed to be continually brought up.

"Once we had her identity, we paid a visit to her commanding officer," Hotch picked up the story. "While Prentiss, Falman and I were speaking with Colonel Rubio, Edward had our driver take him to Belmont's listed address to use his tracking array to see if either Belmont or Hawkeye were inside. When he ascertained no one was, he joined us at Rubio's home and we learned that in the days following Chambers body being found, Belmont had been acting out of character. Belmont had been about to ask her what was wrong but the day he decided to, Belmont had gone back to normal so he figured it had been an off week for her and left it. We also learnt that Belmont's parents had had a place on the outskirts of Central that she now owned but he didn't know the address."

"Thankfully for us, Brookes had pulled Belmont's father's service records and had the address on hand so once we called from the military car pool, we got it straight away and left to see if Ed's tracking array would pick anyone up and it did," Prentiss continued on from Hotch smoothly. "We found both of them inside and booked it back to the base to get everyone else. Like Ed mentioned, Brookes joined us but he had his team on standby so they would be the ones who investigate the crime scene afterwards."

"Forgive the interruption but why did you let Brookes arrest Belmont?" Winry asked and Ed shrugged.

"Figured it would be easiest if he did it. If Mustang's team or I made the arrest, the generals could cry foul and say we set Belmont up to try and get Mustang out of jail, despite the fact that she was holding Miss Riza hostage, had attacked Alphonse and admitted to both of them that she had killed six people. The BAU didn't have the jurisdiction to make the arrest so they couldn't do it. By having Brookes arrest her, we basically made it so if the generals tried to say we were framing Belmont, they would be accusing Brookes of helping us and call all his previous arrests into question, including Mustang's since Brookes was the one to actually arrest him," Ed told her. "If the generals tried to argue that it was only Belmont's arrest that Brookes should be questioned for, they would be asked a ton of questions about why only that particular arrest which would lead to questions about why they didn't want Mustang released if there was a ton of evidence supporting Belmont as the serial killer and only circumstantial evidence suggesting it was Mustang. It would become very awkward for the generals and they'd end up backing themselves into a corner."

"Clever," Pinako said. "Using their own desire for power against them."

"Of course, we were banking on them not questioning the arrest at all since it was their subordinate who made the arrest and their team who went through all of the evidence. We had plenty of witnesses to prove that me, Mustang's team and the BAU only acted in a support capacity and that once Belmont was arrested, we never went back to the property and that none of the neighbours ever saw anyone other than Belmont and the Captain enter the house before we arrived, if any of them even noticed activity in the house to begin with." Ed finished answering Winry's question and the blonde looked impressed.

"I'm assuming arresting Belmont didn't go as smoothly as you wanted, judging by your injuries, Ed," Pinako said observationally and Ed joined the BAU's responding laughter.

"Of course not. When do they ever?" Ed huffed. "No, she decided we had no right to get the Captain back _or_ take her in for the murders, attempted murder and assaults we charged her with," Ed told her. "We fought in the basement and I thought I had her subdued so I called Brookes down so he could cuff her but it turns out that she was playing possum and went to shoot Brookes. I got in the way and the fight moved to the backyard. Captain Hawkeye shot her in the thigh and I kicked her in the same leg to knock her all the way down and she was arrested," Ed said.

"So, why did she frame Roy?" Gracia asked the question she knew was on the Rockbells' minds as well.

"She had a long-standing grudge against my father and General Mustang," Hawkeye spoke up, surprising Ed who had been about to answer. "Several years ago, before General Mustang was tutored by my father, Belmont was taken on as an apprentice. I never met her as her apprenticeship started while I was holidaying at my grandparents and my father had expelled her before I was due to arrive home."

"How come your father expelled her?" Winry asked before she could stop herself. Granny tsked at her but Hawkeye didn't seem to mind the interruption.

"She became extremely volatile. My father invented flame alchemy but he would never tell his students the secrets to it unless he thought they were trustworthy enough. As a result, he never shared the secrets of flame alchemy with any of his students, until General Mustang. While under his tutelage, Belmont became exceedingly unstable at a rapid rate. By the end of her short apprenticeship, my father wrote that she had been screaming at him to teach her, that is was her right to be the next flame alchemist and that he had no right to refuse to teach her." Hawkeye paused for a moment. "While I was in the hospital, one of her doctors was my attending. Now the only reason he told me this was because he wanted to know if I could verify her story," Hawkeye informed them and Ed almost laughed at how nearly everyone had leant forward to hear what Hawkeye was about to say.

"Belmont has an old scar on her right shoulder that extends to her collarbone and partially her bicep. When her doctors inquired about it, since it wasn't in her medical records, she claimed my father gave it to her after she was expelled. As I had never known my father to hurt someone for any reason, especially with his flame alchemy, I asked the doctor why he thought she was even telling him the truth about its origins and he told me it was because the scar had been in the shape of a human hand-print." Hawkeye gave them a moment to absorb that. "I told him I couldn't say either way whether she was telling the truth but it did get me thinking about it and I remembered something that had happened a couple of weeks after I arrived home."

"I was asleep in my bedroom when I was awoken by the sounds of someone screaming in pain. By the time I joined my father in his study, there was no one there and he wasn't hurt. When I asked what had happened, he told me he had caught someone trying to break in but he'd fought them and they had run away. He told me not to worry about it and to get some more sleep while he checked the house. I thought nothing of it and over time had forgotten the whole thing but now I wonder," Hawkeye trailed off but Mustang picked it up for her.

"You're wondering if Master Hawkeye burned her for trying to steal the secrets to flame alchemy."

Hawkeye nodded, sighing a little. "He was extraordinarily protective of his research, as you well know. I wouldn't put it past him to have done something like that to keep it out of the wrong hands," she said and Mustang found himself nodding in agreement.

"She blamed General Mustang for Berthold Hawkeye's decision to expel her and deny her the knowledge she wanted. When she started thinking of ways to get to Captain Hawkeye so she could interrogate her for the secrets of flame alchemy that Belmont believed she had, she realised General Mustang needed to be out of the way. Killing him wasn't an option since she wanted revenge against him so she did the next best thing; frame him for a series of serious, violent crimes so he would be behind bars and unable to search for Captain Hawkeye when word got to him about her kidnapping," Al piped up when it seemed Hawkeye and Mustang had forgotten Gracia's original question.

"Thank you, Alphonse," Gracia said with a smile that Al returned.

* * *

The silence that followed in the moments after was broken by the sound of rapid footsteps from upstairs that were moving quickly to the staircase. Sure enough, Elysia emerged, rushing down the stairs as fast as she could while also being careful not to full down them or drop her burden. She plopped in front of Ed with a victorious grin and put her armful of papers on the ground.

"Mission was a success?" Ed asked as he leaned forward as much as his injuries permitted to see.

"Yup," Elysia said excitedly as she spread the papers out for him to get a better look.

Ed twisted his legs so they were folded underneath and to the side of him before leaning on his automail arm and giving her colourful drawings the best serious look he could give them. "I think these are your best works yet, El," he finally said, giving the young girl a big grin.

"You really think so?" Elysia asked. "Will they like them?" She whispered before Ed had a chance to do much more than nod in answer to her first question.

"I really do and I bet they will love them," Ed said, giving Elysia's arm a light, comforting squeeze, well aware of the attention the two of them had on them. "Why don't you give them to them now? They might be leaving tonight," Ed suggested and Elysia nodded before picking up seven pieces of paper and walking towards the BAU agents with slightly nervous purpose.

"These are for you," Elysia said shyly. Although her back was to Ed, he could tell she was blushing slightly as she handed the picture to the person she had drawn them for. When she got to Hotch, she handed him two pictures. "The second one is for Miss Garcia," Elysia told him, tapping the picture she was talking about. "Thank you for helping my big brothers help Uncle Roy," she said with a massive smile on her face.

"Thank you very much, Elysia. This is a beautiful drawing," Hotch said, giving the young girl a rare smile. The rest of the BAU were quick to follow with their own thanks and compliments. By the time Elysia returned to cuddle up to Ed's left side, she was sporting a beaming smile nearly big enough to take up her whole face and tomato-red from the compliments she had gotten.

"This was the secret mission?" Gracia asked, leaning down to whisper to Ed, who nodded with a small smile as the agents made a slight show of making sure the others saw the drawings before putting them carefully in their bags so they wouldn't forget them.

"Now, we did this with Mustang's team last night, Ed and Hawkeye being the only exceptions, but we would really love it if we could get photos with everyone. Mainly so Garcia has photos of everyone, mainly ones of Ed and Mustang since we never took any either time they were in our dimension," JJ explained, holding up her cell phone which, up until this point, had been switched up to preserve its battery since it didn't work in Amestris.

"Also, we do need some way of proving our story when we tell our friends at NCIS about where we've been," Morgan told them with a slight grin.

"Yeah, I don't think DiNozzo would be willing to accept that you guys ended up over here on your word alone. I'm fairly certain he really only completely believed our story when Al, Teacher and Major Armstrong managed to open the portal to bring us and Moore home," Ed laughed and Morgan nodded in complete agreement.

"Abby would believe us with no problems," Reid said. "I reckon she could've convinced DiNozzo."

"I dunno, man. Abby, bless her, believes aliens exist – holy crap, we can prove to her that aliens exist," Morgan exclaimed, looking at Ed hopefully. "Do you have your tablet?" He asked and Ed nodded. He always took it with him if no one was going to be in Gracia's home, even overnight. He couldn't risk someone breaking in and stealing it and not just because of its sentimental value. "Do you know if you can share files with other devices?"

"I don't know," Ed admitted. "I can ask Green to ask Pidge," he offered and Morgan nodded for him to do so. _**"Did you hear the question?"**_ Ed asked, focusing on Green's bond than the bond as a whole.

"_Yes, I've asked my pilot and she's discussing the possibility with her father and brother,"_ Green answered and Ed mentally nodded, giving Morgan a gesture to remain patient. It didn't take long for Green to get back to him. _"I'm sorry, cub, but they don't think it's possible. Not with how old their phones are and the way your tablet is built,"_ Green told him, voice sorrowful.

"_**That's okay. Thanks for asking, Green." **_Ed made sure to send warm feeling through their bond so she'd know he wasn't angry at all about the answer. "No can do. Sorry, Morgan," Ed said out loud and Morgan sighed.

"That's alright. Figured that would be asking a bit too much," Morgan chuckled. "Would been great to see DiNozzo's face when we showed her the pictures though." Ed laughed as he imagined that scenario.

"Yeah, I would've paid money to see that," Ed chuckled. "You never know, I might wind up in your dimension again and I can show DiNozzo and Abby myself," he joked, causing most of the BAU to grin at that image.

"Alright, let's take these photos," JJ said, standing up and getting ready to boss everyone around and holding her phone at the ready.

"Where's your camera?" Elysia asked, looking at her with a puzzled expression.

"Oh, this is my camera, sweetie," JJ told her, wiggling the phone a little but that made Elysia's puzzled frown deepen a little.

"That doesn't look like a camera. My papa's camera was a lot bigger than that," Elysia said. Gracia felt the familiar wash of sadness flow through her at the mention of Maes and a glance showed her that the other Amestrians felt it too.

"Remember what I said about their world, El? How all of their technology is better than ours? Well, they found a way to make cameras smaller so they would be easier to carry. Kind of like my tablet," Ed explained and Elysia seemed to get what Ed was saying but she still didn't look like she fully believed him.

"How about I prove it to you, hey?" JJ suggested and Elysia nodded. "Why don't you, Ed and your mum give us a big smile?" JJ asked pointedly and the three didn't dare refuse her orders. Ed shuffled back so he could lean against Gracia's chair while Elysia sat in his lap. A moment after they smiled, JJ was walking over to Elysia and crouching next to the young girl and Edward. "Here, see?" She held the phone so all three could see the photo taken and Elysia squealed in delight as she saw the photo of the three of them looking back at her.

"Look, mumma, big brother! It's us!" She exclaimed and both Ed and Gracia grinned at her exuberance.

"How amazing is that, honey?" Gracia asked with an excitement that almost rivalled Elysia's, leaning down so she could kiss the young girl's cheek. "How about we let JJ take photos of everyone else now though?" Gracia said, sensing Elysia might ask the blonde agent to take more photos of them.

"Can I see them after?" Elysia asked both women and both women nodded that she could, which made her extremely happy.

* * *

The next half hour was spent with JJ directing people into pairs or groups so she could snap photos of them all. Prentiss took over so that JJ could get photos with her and the others, something the blonde agent had looked mildly shocked about when Prentiss made the suggestion. She'd confessed that she'd actually forgotten for a moment about getting photos of herself with everyone. Finally, they took one last photo as a whole group with JJ setting the timer on her camera up and joining them a moment before the picture was taken. She hadn't allowed anyone to move until she'd checked the photo before declaring it perfect and letting them sit back in their spots. As promised, she let Elysia see every single photo taken before she switched her phone off and put it carefully back in her bag.

Ed caught Winry's eye and made a silent gesture, asking if they could speak in private while JJ was entertaining Elysia. Winry rolled her eyes but nodded to the stairs and general direction of her workshop. Ed nodded in agreement and both headed upstairs, giving any who gave them questioning looks a reassuring smile but not actually answering them.

"Alright, what's wrong?" Winry asked, eyes going straight to his automail with a slightly worried gleam, the moment they entered her workshop.

"Nothing's wrong, don't worry," Ed assured her and she relaxed slightly. "Actually, I wanted to ask you a favour," Ed admitted and she raised her brow in surprise. Ed hadn't asked her for very many favours, knowing she would always collect.

"What do you need?" Winry asked, utterly unable to guess what he could actually be about to ask her.

"Do you have any scraps of metal – doesn't matter what kind and I don't need a lot – that I can use?" Ed asked and Winry felt herself pause for a moment. Now she was even more confused than before.

"Why?" She asked even as she went to her scrap-filled container to have a look for him.

"I've been thinking about what to give Miss Penelope, since I've already bought everyone else something as a memento for this trip, and I've just come up with an idea. I want to make her a small sculpture of Al's armour." Winry kept her surprise internal as she sifted through the scrap metal.

"Alright. How much to you need?" She asked and knew Ed was shrugging even without being able to see him.

"Maybe a chunk as big as my palm? It doesn't need to be heavy metal, just something strong enough to survive being moved or dropped," Ed told her, relaxing against one of her benches as he watched her dig through the metal.

"Alright, see if this is good," Winry said after pulling a piece a little bigger than Ed asked for and handing it over to him.

Ed accepted it with a smile before placing it on the bench and putting one of his hands on it. A moment of concentration later there was a flash of blue alchemic light. Winry averted her eyes from the bright light and when she looked back there was a perfect miniature replica of the armour Al's soul had been bonded to for five years.

"What do you think?" Ed asked, picking the statue up and handing it to Winry for her to inspect.

She scrutinised it for a minute or so before tossing it back to Ed. "It looks just like the armour," Winry said. "Why don't you ever buy or make me any gifts?" She asked, pouting slightly as Ed pocketed the statue.

"How much are you charging me again for installing this new set of automail?" Ed asked, giving her a significant look and nodding when she didn't answer right away. "That's why." Winry scowled but didn't say anything since he may have had a point.

By silent agreement, they headed back down to the group and just in time to witness Gracia trying to coax Elysia to say good night to everyone as it was well past her bedtime and the five-year-old was growing increasingly fussy. After he'd put his arm back in the sling, Ed and Al stepped in to help a grateful Gracia and finally Elysia went around and gave everyone – including the BAU agents – a hug goodnight and followed her mother upstairs for a bath and to be tucked in.

"She went with far less fuss than Jack does," Hotch commented, causing Rossi to snort with amusement. Mustang and Ed were still surprised every time Hotch brought up the fact he had a child.

"Alright, I'll be heading to bed shortly as it's been a long day," Pinako announced as she clambered to her feet. "Let me show you where you're all sleeping," she said and ignoring their protests that they could find their beds themselves and Ed and Al's protests that they could show them, she led them to the patients' room. "It'll be a bit of a squeeze but there is enough room for four of you to sleep in here. The other two will have to settle for the couch and spare mattress in the lounge," Pinako informed them. "Ed, Al, you'll be in your old room and there's an old cot in there for Mustang. Don't bother arguing," Pinako warned, glaring at Ed who had just been about to do that. "I'll be sharing with Winry while you will be sharing my room with Gracia and Elysia, Riza," Pinako finished saying.

"Thank you, Pinako. We really appreciate you putting us all up for the night," JJ said politely only for Pinako to dismiss her thanks.

"It's no problem, dear," Pinako said, giving the BAU agent a smile. "I'm going to head up and see how Gracia is doing with Elysia and then I'm going to go to bed, Winry," Pinako told her granddaughter who nodded.

"Okay, Granny. I'll make sure that I keep the noise down when I come up," Winry told her and she gave a hum of acknowledgement.

"Well, if you lot aren't here for breakfast, I'll assume you went back home. Never thought that I would get to meet any of you but it was certainly a pleasure to do so. Good luck with everything in your futures," Pinako said with a smile and nod.

"Thank you, Pinako. If we don't see you in the morning, thank you once again for your hospitality and we wish you well as well," Hotch said before the rest of the agents said something similar.

"Good night. Don't stay up too late," Pinako said to everyone though the last part was mainly to Edward, Alphonse and Winry.

"Night, Granny," the three of them chorused while the adults offered their own goodnights and the elderly woman headed up the stairs.

"Come on, you two, we need to clear up everything from dinner before morning or Granny will murder us," Winry said, grabbing Ed and Al by their arms and pulling them towards the kitchen. Ed was grateful she'd grabbed his automail arm because he reckoned it would've hurt his other arm, judging from Al's expression.

"Geez, Winry, ease up, would you? We're coming," Ed said, tugging his arm out of her grip and giving her an irritated scowl. She didn't bother to respond but she did let go of Al, who rubbed his bruised arm. Ed could hear someone behind them huff with laughter but he decided to be the bigger person and let it go as he followed the other two into the kitchen.

* * *

Ed collapsed in his bed with a slight groan. He had helped Al and Winry with the dishes, which had included an argument about how much Ed could do considering his injuries. Al had been against Ed doing much of anything while Winry told Al to stop being such a mother-hen before snapping at Ed when he agreed with her and went to lift something that needed both hands and calling him a masochistic idiot and lecturing him about taking better care of himself. Shaking his head at both of them, Ed started filling the sink with warm water and cleaning off the benches.

After Winry and Al had come to an agreement (Winry would wash, Al would dry and put away and Ed would wipe off the benches, countertops, and table) it didn't take long for them to finish in the kitchen and they were soon joining the others in the lounge room once more. Ed had used the opportunity to give Hotch the small statue of Al's armour. The agent had promised to give it Garcia before he tucked it into his bag and the two of them joined in on the conversations going on until everyone decided to call it a night an hour or so later.

Al had refused to let Mustang camp on the old cot and he wouldn't let Ed sleep on it either when Ed tried to convince him to take his bed when it was clear Al wasn't going to let Mustang when the argument. Al had played dirty, agreeing to Ed's offer to sleep in his bed before claiming the first shower. By the time Ed came back from his own shower, Alphonse was curled up on the cot and Ed's bed was free. Mustang had raised his brows in amusement when Ed flipped off his brother's back before he left to take his own shower. If he'd had the capability to think, Ed would've been surprised at how quickly he was able to drift off.

* * *

_He really wished he could've been surprised that, when he opened his eyes, his vision was assaulted by the all too familiar stark-white world of Truth's. He was lying on the floor, the Gate of Knowledge to his right, looming eerily over him as he climbed to his feet. At least in Truth's dimension he wasn't injured so he relished being able to get to his feet without his injuries protesting the movement._

"_Alright, where are you and what the ever-living fuck do you want with me now?" Ed asked a little wearily as he looked around himself and didn't see Truth._

"_Hello, little alchemist," Truth's spine-chilling voice sounded behind him and he spun quickly so he was now facing the being._

"_Why am I here?" Ed asked and Truth giggled._

"_Straight to the point, I see," Truth said, pointing at him with the arm Ed had sacrificed twice to save his brother. "You're here because your American friends aren't alchemists, of course!" Truth told him, inhuman grin stretching wider than Ed was comfortable with._

"_And what exactly does that mean?" Ed asked, crossing his arms in front of him._

"_Surely you must've figured it out by yourself! You _are_ a genius after all," Truth teased and Ed suppressed the urge to see if he could punch Truth in the face._

"_Pretend I haven't," Ed said. "Why am I here?" He asked once more and Truth sighed like its game had been ruined._

"_Your friends are not alchemists, which means they do not have a Gate of their own. I managed to bring them here because I needed them in this dimension," Truth told him and Ed raised a brow before rolling his hand to make it continue. "Technically, it wouldn't be the end of either world if they stayed in Amestris and since they have no Gate of their own, I don't have to pull them back myself." Ed suddenly had an idea of what it was saying and swore._

"_You really are a conniving bastard," Ed glared as Truth's grin nearly split its face in two._

"_Ah, I see you've nearly figured it out, little alchemist. I know you'll get there if you put your mind to it," Truth taunted and Ed barely resisted the urge to snarl at it._

"_You promised the agents a free trip back to their dimension if they completed the mission you brought them over for. That mission _was_ to get Mustang out of jail with his name cleared, wasn't it?" Ed asked, a little unsure he'd been right in his assumption when he first spoke to the BAU in McBride's office._

"_Oh, yes, that was the reason for their visit, have no fear, little alchemist. The group of you succeeded in that mission spectacularly," Truth assured him and Ed managed to keep his shudder at the sound of Truth's voice so sickly sweet internal. "And I did promise the agents that they wouldn't have to pay a toll back to their world. That much is true," Truth told him, grin getting wider as Ed finally caught on._

"_But since they're not alchemists and have no Gate of their own and you're an arsehole, you're making it so that an alchemist has to open the Gate for them which means the alchemist needs to use the array for human transmutation and pay a toll for the agents' safe passage," Ed said, closing his eyes as Truth's delighted laughter echoed in its dimension._

"_Well done, little alchemist! I told you that you'd get there eventually," Truth praised mockingly and this time Ed didn't contain his snarl._

"_You arsehole! I knew there had to be a catch! Why didn't you just tell them this was the price?" Ed asked and Truth gave him a pitying look. Or the closest Truth could get to a pitying look, since he didn't really have a face._

"_Do you _really_ think your friends would have agreed to help if they knew the alchemist who sent them back would have to pay my toll?" Truth asked and Ed's stomach sank. No, the BAU team never would have agreed to help if they knew._

"_So you tricked them?" Ed asked and Truth shrugged._

"_I did what I needed too to get the result that would guarantee the safety of Amestris and all the other countries on this planet," Truth informed him coldly before its grin was back in place. "You have lots to discuss with your friends so I suggest you get started!" Truth said, waving to him as Ed's vision went black._

* * *

He awoke with a gasp and the Lions clamouring in his head. Al was beside him in an instant and Ed heard the sheets rustle across the room, indicating that Mustang was awake. Ed paid neither of them any attention as he focused on his heart rate and the Lions.

"_**Settle down, guys. I can't make out what you're saying when you're all talking at once,"**_ Ed whispered through the bond.

"_We couldn't sense you anymore, Ed!"_ Blue said frantically.

"_What happened? Are you alright?"_ Black asked and Ed huffed an unamused breath of laughter.

"_**You'll find out in a few minutes. I need to tell everyone else but I am alright, I promise,"**_ Ed reassured them and they seemed pacified enough by his answer because they backed off and he breathed a sigh of relief and the pressure in his head lessened.

"Ed, are you alright? Was it another nightmare?" Al asked, keeping his voice hushed. Mustang didn't say anything but he was watching the boys with sharp eyes.

"I'm fine and I wish it was just a fucking nightmare," Ed ground out before looking up at both of them. "We need to wake the BAU up. Truth just paid me a visit," Ed told them, nudging Al aside and swinging himself out of bed. He pulled on a pair of pants, as did Al, while Mustang just waited by the door, having slept in something other than his boxers.

Ed led the way downstairs and was both surprised and pleased when JJ and Prentiss sat up immediately. Apparently, they hadn't managed to fall asleep yet. Al whispered to Ed that he would go and get the other agents before moving to do just that.

"Ed, are you alright? Is everything okay?" Prentiss asked as she and JJ got to their feet.

"Yeah, I'm alright and something has happened but I want the others here before I tell you," Ed told her, wincing apologetically but she didn't seem upset by his refusal to share right away.

Al turned up moments later, flicking on the switch and washing the room in light once more. The male BAU agents were following dutifully behind, Reid rubbing his eyes sleepily. Al waited until he joined his brother once more before he asked what had happened once more.

"Truth decided to pay me a visit while I was asleep," Ed said and there was a collective gasp from everyone in front of him. "I knew your deal was too good to be true," Ed joked though there was minimal amusement in his voice.

"Why? What did it say?" Hotch asked, unknowingly echoing Black in Ed's head.

"It told you that if you did the job it required of you that you and your team wouldn't need to pay a toll to go home," Ed reminded them and the BAU agents nodded. "We were right about the job being you guys helping us clear Mustang's name."

"That's a good thing though," Reid said. "It means we get to go home, right?" he asked Ed uncertainly.

"Yeah, you guys get to go home but it's not toll-free," Ed said. "Because none of you are alchemists and because Truth doesn't feel like just snatching you from here, an alchemist has to get you to Truth's domain to send you through the Gate," Ed said and saw Al and Mustang's face pale.

"Please don't tell me that-?" Al was cut off by Ed's nod.

"Yeah," Ed said before looking at the BAU again. "One of us has to open _our_ Gate and pay the toll to get you home." All of the BAU agents were shocked into silence before Morgan finally spoke and broke it.

"So, what do we do?" he asked and Ed raised a brow.

"What do you mean?" Ed asked and Morgan made a noise that could've been a huff of amusement.

"To get us home? We can't ask you guys to pay any kind of toll for us. If Truth wanted us here, it can damn well stick to its word and send us home toll-free," Morgan said and Ed shook his head.

"It _is_ sending you home toll-free. _You_ don't have to pay it. All it told you was that _you_ wouldn't have to pay a toll. It never said that toll wouldn't be paid by someone else. I told you; Truth is a sadistic arsehole who knows how to use loopholes," Ed reminded them.

"We can't ask you to pay some unknown price for us though!" JJ protested, backed up by everyone else. "You said that when you've paid Truth's toll before it's cost you your arm and leg!"

"You don't have a choice," Ed told them. "Truth won't take you back any other way and according to it, neither world would end if you stayed here and that isn't an option," Ed told them sternly.

"Fullmetal's right. You have your own lives you need to get back to. Let us deal with Truth," Mustang implored. "Between me and Fullmetal, we'll be able to reach an agreement with it that will suit both parties," he said confidently. The BAU didn't look comfortable with the idea.

"Guys, you have families you need to get back to. Miss Penelope is waiting for you as well. You can't stay here, no matter how much I wish you could. You _have_ to go back home and this is the only way you can do it," Ed pleaded with them and he felt the Lions band behind him, giving him the strength he needed so he wouldn't ask them to stay. He didn't want to deal with Truth and he certainly didn't want to say goodbye to his friends for what would probably be the last time but he couldn't let them stay.

"Please let us do this," Al asked, voice small and Ed could see the BAU's resolve break.

"You shouldn't be the ones to pay though," Reid said, sounding close to tears and Ed gave him a sad smile.

"You aren't alchemists. The person or people who activate the array are the ones who the toll is taken from. You literally _can't_ pay the toll. Only _we_ can," Ed told him and a tear rolled down Reid's cheek.

"But it's not fair," he whimpered slightly and Morgan pulled him into a one-armed hug.

"Truth never is," Ed said wryly.

"Everyone, go and get changed and get your bags." Hotch looked like he was being forced to give the order and Ed felt a pang of guilt as he watched them do as Hotch said. He was forcing them to do this by giving them no alternative. There weren't any false Philosopher's Stones or alchemists in the other dimension to save them from a toll.

"It's not your fault," Mustang said as they waited in the living room, JJ and Prentiss having gone into the kitchen for privacy. Ed shook his head.

"Sure feels like it is." Ed felt Al squeeze his right shoulder before leaving his hand there in a show of support. Ed sucked in a deep breath. "We can't perform the transmutation in here. If I draw it for you, can you use flame alchemy to burn it into the ground outside? I can tear up the ground and destroy the array when we get back," Ed asked Mustang, who merely nodded.

While Ed was looking in the living room for a scrap of paper and pen, the BAU agents slowly started rejoining them, dressed in the outfits they'd arrived in and bags slung over their shoulders. Ed finally found what he was looking for and placed the paper on the coffee table before sketching out the array he needed and handing it to Mustang. JJ and Prentiss were the last to join back up with the group.

"We're doing this outside so we don't make a mess in here," Ed said. "Ready?"

"No," Hotch answered honestly, mouth still turned down in displeasure at what was about to happen. "Let's go," he said, despite his first answer and his obvious reservations about the plan.

The group of nine made their way quietly out of the house. Den immediately perked up when he saw Ed and Al but both boys shushed him and told him to stay as they walked past him. He gave a little whine but did as he was told, watching the humans as they moved to the area Ed and Al normally sparred in whenever they were over.

"You're up, Mustang," Ed said, gesturing for everyone to get behind the flame alchemist.

Mustang pulled the piece of paper out, studied it carefully before pulling on one of his gloves and snapping. The fire burned bright for a few seconds before Mustang released it and both Ed and Al darted forward to check the array was completely correct. They couldn't afford any kind of mistake and they knew it. Al looked at Ed, who looked back and both nodded in satisfaction.

"Al-" Ed started saying.

"No, I'm going with you," Al said, cutting off what Ed had been about to say.

"No, you're not. You aren't going anywhere near that dickwad if I can help it," Ed told him. "Besides, you need to stay here in case the light wakes someone in the house up and they come out to investigate," Ed told him but Al's jaw had a stubborn set to it that told the older Elric this would turn into a massive argument.

"Alphonse, Fullmetal is right. Someone needs to stay here in case. You're forgetting that Captain Hawkeye and Pinako both saw the array left on your basement floor. They'll recognise this array and they will panic if no one is here to tell them what was going on," Mustang told him, keeping his voice calm and rational.

"I don't want you going by yourself, Ed," Al pleaded and Mustang shook his head.

"He won't be. I'm going with him." His statement was met with two incredulous looks.

"Excuse me?" Ed said but was ignored as Al and Mustang seemed to come to a silent understanding because Al finally nodded.

"Alright, I'll stay here but you two better come back _without_ missing body parts," Al said, tears gathering in his eyes but he didn't let them fall. Al then turned to the BAU and gave them a big, watery smile. "It was amazing to meet all of you. Thank you for everything you've done for us, not just this week but the last two times you saw my brother and General Mustang. I hope we're able to see each other again but without all the drama," Al said, offering his hand to the agents.

"Oh, Alphonse, it was such a pleasure meeting you! Make sure you keep yourself and Ed safe for us! We'll miss you," JJ said, using Al's hand to pull him into a hug. Prentiss made it a group hug before Morgan was able to extract Al and shake his hand. Reid, Hotch and Rossi followed suit and all of them said goodbye to Al.

"Alright, you guys need to be in the middle of the array but be extremely careful not to mess it up," Ed instructed, not wanting to prolong this anymore, and watched as the agents picked their way to the centre of the array with care. "Al, make sure you're out of the way," Ed said as he and Mustang followed the BAU so they were in the array as well. Al backed up obligingly, until he was nearly against the house.

"Ready, Fullmetal?" Mustang asked and Ed managed a scoff.

"More than you are," he quipped reflexively as they both knelt and with one final look at Al, placed their hands on the array. The resulting alchemic energy blinded everyone, forcing them all to close their eyes and when Al opened his back up, he found himself alone and looking at a slightly crackling array.

* * *

"_Welcome back, little alchemist and friends,"_ Truth said with a manic grin as it watched the humans pick themselves up from where they lay.

"Alright, let's do this," Ed said grumpily as he faced the being.

"_That's not very polite, Edward. Why not start with a simple 'hello'?"_ Truth asked, feigning hurt.

"Because you're a dick and I'm in a bad mood. What do you want as payment?" Ed asked bluntly and Truth hummed thoughtfully. The noise made everyone shiver as their spines crawled unpleasantly.

"Take the toll from us," Hotch demanded and made to step forward but Ed blocked him with an automail arm.

"_Ah, but didn't Edward explain it to you? I can't!"_ Truth said gleefully. _"You aren't alchemists so you need to rely on an alchemists' Gate or my own Gate and I'm not willing to expend the energy it would take for me to send you back with no payment,"_ Truth told them and more than one agent snarled at it.

"You had no problem bringing us here!" Morgan snapped and Truth tutted at him.

"_Yes, because I __**needed**__ to bring you here. I don't need to send you back,"_ Truth said, grinning widely at them.

"Guys, we talked about this. You can't do anything," Ed murmured. The displeasure was evident on all of their faces but they did step back. "Let's talk price," Ed said, facing Truth. "First thing we need to know is whether you did anything to cover their absence in their world the past week or have their bosses and families thought they were missing the whole time?" Ed asked and Truth grinned.

"_I never did anything. I believe the seventh member of their team has been working hard to provide them alibis for their absence,"_ Truth told them. _"For example, Agent Hotchner has been out sick all week thanks to an ear infection his son is also out of school with."_

"Will they face any repercussions for their absences?" Ed asked and Truth seemed to pause as it thought about it.

"_They certainly could,"_ Truth said and Ed sighed in irritation at the non-answer.

"In exchange for their safe passage back to their dimension and them not facing any kind of negative repercussion for them being missing, what do you want in payment from us?" Ed asked, gesturing to himself and Mustang.

"_Well, now, that is the question, isn't it?"_ Truth said before it contemplated its response. _"I believe I could use a favour down the track from the both of you. You can't refuse when I ask and I can cash it in whenever I wish. I will also be taking back the knowledge you gained when you were forced to commit human transmutation, Flame Alchemist,"_ Truth said. Ed didn't get the chance to protest because Mustang nodded in agreement. _"I believe that should be a fair payment. Do you accept the terms?"_ Truth asked, leaning forward in anticipation. Both Ed and Mustang exchanged a glance.

"I accept the conditions," Mustang said and Ed echoed him.

"_Excellent! I suggest you say your goodbyes quickly because there isn't much time,"_ Truth said as the Gate started opening.

"Thank you," Hotch said, grasping Mustang's hand. "I don't know if we'll ever see you again but if we do, we'll repay both of you somehow." Mustang's hand was released and Hotch grabbed Ed's.

"You don't have to pay us back for this," Ed told him. "Think of it is one last way to thank you for getting that lazy bastard out of jail so he couldn't escape his paperwork," Ed said, glancing at Mustang with a teasing smirk.

"Yes, I went out of my way to get arrested for multiple violent crimes to escape my paperwork. Very clever," Mustang drawled as he shook Rossi's hand.

"I wouldn't put it past you. You did join me _in space_ to avoid your paperwork, remember?" Ed said as he grabbed by Morgan for a hug. "Make sure you say hello to Miss Penelope for me and give her a hug from me as well. Tell her I'm sorry she couldn't come with you guys," Ed asked as Morgan pulled away from him.

"I will, blondie. You make sure you stay out of trouble," Morgan said, ruffling Ed's hair. Ed didn't protest the treatment for once and was quickly pulled into a hug by Reid.

"Thank you, Reid," Ed whispered before they pulled away from each other.

"What for?" Reid asked and Ed shrugged.

"Everything. For listening to me and for your help," Ed said and Reid smiled.

"You would've done the same for me," he said and Ed nodded in agreement but was prevented from saying anything more by JJ and Prentiss hauling him in for a group hug.

"You had better stay safe, Edward," JJ said, squeezing him tightly, making Ed grateful that his injuries didn't exist in Truth's dimension.

"It was amazing seeing you again. Thank you for everything," Prentiss said, squeezing him just as tightly.

"Thank you both for your help and for listening to me," Ed said as he made sure to hug them just as tightly before he turned to say a proper goodbye to Rossi and Hotch. Mustang was immediately attacked by the two women. "Thank you both for everything," Ed said, holding his hand out for Rossi to shake but was surprised when the older man hugged him instead.

"Don't let Mustang boss you around too much, kid, and make sure you keep yourself and your brother safe," Rossi said, letting go of Ed.

"Will do, Rossi," Ed said, looking at Mustang to see if he'd heard. The scowl on his face suggested he had and Ed grinned.

"Try not to wind up in hospital any time soon and make sure you keep yourself healthy," Hotch said, giving Ed's flesh shoulder a friendly squeeze. "Thank you for paying the toll. I am sorry you had to," Hotch apologised again but Ed shook his head.

"Don't apologise. It wasn't your fault," Ed said, giving him a smile. Mustang was saying his final goodbye and soon enough, everyone had said goodbye to the two alchemists. "Hopefully we'll see you again without any kind of crime involved," Ed said, giving everyone the biggest smile he could manage as Mustang came to stand next to him.

"We can always hope," Hotch said. The sight of the doors swinging open got their attention and Truth grinned.

"_Time to go, agents,"_ it told them as the tiny black arms shot out of the opening and started grabbing at the agents. The two alchemists could see their initial apprehension about the hands but there was no shock, which wasn't a surprise considering they'd had to deal with them when they arrived.

"See you later!" Ed called as Mustang waved until the doors closed and they were left in the dimension with only Truth as their company.

"_It's time for the two of you to leave, alchemists. I'll see you when I call in your favours,"_ Truth cackled as the doors opened once more and the two alchemists found themselves being hauled forward by the hundreds of black hands that had re-emerged. Their vision went black before they were fully through the doors.

* * *

Al was startled into a standing position when a second massive flash of light almost blinded him but this time when he opened his eyes, he saw his brother and Mustang lying on the ground rather than just the array.

"Brother! General! Are you both alright?" Al asked, fussing over them both the moment he reached them. He saw no blood pools and neither of them was groaning in pain so he assumed they were alright. "Wake up," he said, shaking both forms in front of him until they slowly complied.

"Al?" Ed asked as he got to his knees. Mustang was struggling to do the same.

"It's me. What happened?" Al asked anxiously as he helped both of them to their feet.

Their dizziness quickly disappeared as they stood and Ed herded them out of the array before he placed a hand just outside of the outer-most circle and blue energy flashed once more. The earth beneath his fingers exploded as he tore it up, breaking the circle and making the array unusable. He lifted his hand before placing it done once more and when the light had cleared, Al and Mustang saw that Ed had flattened the earth once more so it was like it had been before but without the array burned into it.

"Did they get home alright? What price did you have to pay?" Al asked as Ed straightened up. The three were distracted by some lights being turned on in the house, indicating some of the other occupants were woken up.

"We'll tell you everything that happened inside," Ed said, ignoring Al's grumble.

"_I'm sorry you had to say goodbye to your friends again,"_ Blue said and Ed gave her a mental smile.

"_**Thanks, Blue. I just wish I had a way to communicate with them like I do you,"**_ Ed said but shook himself free of those thoughts. "Come on, we've got some explaining to do," Ed said to the two with him as he trudged towards the house.

A/N - Here's chapter 29 for you all! Many thanks to my amazing beta, PhoneixQueen for all her hard work on this chapter, and many many thanks to those of you who have left reviews! I'm very sorry I hadn't thanked you personally until today but this week has seen me no where near my laptop for various reasons. Now that this chapter has been posted, there are only 3 left to go. The next two are set in Amestris, dealing with the aftermath of the BAU's departure and the two generals that everyone loves to hate and the final chapter is set in America and what happened there while the BAU were in Amestris. I hope to see everyone's thoughts on this chapter! See you next week!


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter Thirty**

"Am I correct in assuming your friends have gone home?" Pinako asked the moment the three alchemists walked through the front door. Ed looked up to see her, Hawkeye, Winry and Gracia gathered in the lounge room, looking worried and relieved to see them.

"Yeah," Ed said and Pinako nodded as she looked at JJ and Prentiss' abandoned make-shift beds.

"Are you all okay?" Gracia asked, eyes flicking to see if she could see any new injuries on any of them.

"We're all okay, Gracia," Mustang assured her and she seemed mollified by that.

"You didn't damage my brand new automail, did you?" Winry asked, taking a step forward as if she was about to investigate for herself. Ed rolled his eyes and huffed at her.

"No, _my_ automail is fine, you obsessed gear head," Ed snapped at her.

"Alright," Pinako said, effectively halting any bickering between Winry and Ed before it could really start. "You lot can help pack away all of the bedding so I can have my lounge and patient room back then we'll all head back to bed and discuss what happened when the sun is actually up," Pinako said decisively.

As everyone was too tired to argue, they did as she said. Mustang and Hawkeye needed a little more instruction than anyone else since they hadn't spent more than an afternoon in the house so they didn't know where everything went. Between the seven of them, they managed to get everything packed up neatly in no time, even with Al trying to dictate what Ed was and wasn't allowed to do.

"Try and get some sleep," Pinako instructed once the last pillow had been put away. "I imagine there'll be an excitable little girl waking everyone up in the morning now her brothers and uncle are here." Gracia nodded in agreement, a soft smile on her face.

"I'll try and talk her out of getting you to cook breakfast with her, Ed," Gracia said, tone not optimistic but Ed just grinned.

"She can try," Ed told her, his tone one of challenge, and Gracia laughed at his mock seriousness.

"How about you take on the five-year-old later, Brother?" Al laughed, wrapping his hand around Ed's automail elbow and leading him towards the stairs. "Goodnight, everyone," Al said as Ed tried to escape his grip.

"Goodnight, boys," Pinako bade them as they made it to the stairs without Ed getting free from Alphonse. "Mustang, if you wish, I can set you up on the couch for the night," Pinako offered, addressing the older alchemist who had just taken a couple of steps to follow the brothers.

"Thank you, Pinako, but I wouldn't want to put you out. I'm happy with the current arrangement," Mustang assured her. Pinako didn't look overly convinced but she didn't push the matter as the adults joined the brothers on the stair case.

Ed had managed to escape Al's grip and was sticking his tongue out at him before he realised they were holding everyone up. He flipped Winry off when she muttered something about them behaving like children and she lunged for him before anyone could stop her. Ed managed to dodge her attack by grabbing Al and using him as a human body shield, causing the young Elric to yelp in fear as he suddenly faced with an enraged Winry.

"Behave," Pinako growled warningly, causing the three to immediately stop their antics. Winry levelled Ed with a glare before she stalked past him and went into her room.

It didn't take long for the rest of them to disperse. Simple nods or whispered 'goodnights' were exchanged as Pinako followed Winry and both Gracia and Hawkeye headed for their temporary room, leaving only the alchemists in the hallway. Both Elrics started to head into their room but Ed found himself stopped by Mustang grabbing his automail arm, just like Al had only moments previously.

"What?" Ed asked, yanking his arm out of Mustang's grip. Alphonse had paused at the bedroom door to look back at them with confusion.

"Alphonse, if I may have a moment alone with your brother?" Mustang asked, ignoring Ed, much to the blond's and the Lions' mutual irritation.

"Don't destroy Granny's house, please." Al gave Ed a slightly apologetic look before he disappeared into the room, closing the door firmly but softly behind him. Ed gave the door a betrayed look before turning to Mustang.

"What?" Ed repeated, tapping his foot impatiently. Mustang looked a little wrong-footed and uncomfortable, which made Ed's annoyance melt into confusion.

"_What's wrong with him?" _Red asked and Ed sent her a mental shrug. He didn't know how Mustang thought on a good day.

"Look, Fullmetal, I just wanted to apologise," Mustang finally said and that seemed to shock Ed rather than rid him of his confusion.

"What the fuck for?" Ed asked, voice betraying his confusion and Mustang gave him a look that told Ed that Mustang thought he should already know why.

"For barging in on you and Miss Rockbell earlier," Mustang said and was rewarded with Ed's eyes widening in slight surprise. "It was inappropriate of me to do so. I should have knocked rather than entering without permission. I'll apologise to Miss Rockbell tomorrow as well but I wished to apologise to you tonight." Mustang paused, like he wasn't sure whether he should say what he was thinking. "I didn't realise getting your automail connected was so painful," Mustang said and Ed glared at him.

"All of my nerves have to be reconnected to the limb. How does that _not_ sound painful?" he asked snippily.

"_Cub, I don't think he's judging you for being in pain. I think he genuinely didn't realise it would hurt,"_ Black said calmly. That observation made Ed actually pause and take a good look at Mustang's stricken face. It seemed that being in Resembool with no fear of anyone in the military finding out about his behaviour had caused Mustang to lower his guard a little.

"Why can't you be sedated beforehand? If you're in that much pain when they get connected," Mustang asked and Ed shrugged, shuffling where he stood a little.

"Same reason people aren't put under anaesthetic when the initial automail surgery is performed. Painkillers might mask any potential problems with the connection. If I'm awake and aware, I would know immediately if something was wrong. The connection might hurt but it's nothing on the surgery so it doesn't really bother me anymore," Ed told him nonchalantly, still feeling uncomfortable about this whole conversation. "Honestly, Mustang, I think you should be sorrier about the fact that you decided to barge into a teenage girl's room without knocking. Imagine if the team found out about _that_," Ed teased, trying to put an end to their talk. Mustang saw through him though.

"Fullmetal. Edward," Mustang's tone softened slightly with the use of his real name and Ed paused in his turn to the door, "I know you're uncomfortable with people seeing you in pain or vulnerable in anyway and you're about as comfortable having heart-to-heart talks with me as I am with pretty much everyone," Ed had to huff a laugh at that, echoed by the Lions, and Mustang cracked a smile, "but I _am_ sorry. I should've known when you sent Elysia out to annoy Captain Hawkeye that you would've been doing something you didn't want her seeing and I shouldn't have done what I did. Like I said, I'll apologise to Miss Rockbell in the morning – or whenever she's free – but I wanted to apologise to you now," Mustang said and Ed narrowed his eyes as the mention of Elysia and Hawkeye sparked something.

"Did the Captain put you up to this? Is this why she dragged you outside after you left Winry's room?" Ed asked.

"_He looks shifty,"_ Red said, a growl in her voice as the other Lions shushed her.

"No – well, yes, but no," Mustang said ineloquently and Ed just stared at him until he figured out what he was trying to say. "Yes, Captain Hawkeye spoke to me outside because she suspected that I had interrupted your automail change but no, she didn't make me agree to apologise to you or Miss Rockbell. She did say she hoped I would but I'd already been planning on apologising," Mustang said, scratching the back of his head and looking very uncomfortable at the idea of admitting to having erred in his actions. If Ed hadn't been so surprised by his behaviour, he would've been teasing him about it.

"_Put him out of his misery, Ed. This is painful to watch,"_ Black said, though her voice had a vaguely amused tone to it.

"Well, thanks, Mustang. I suppose your last apology wasn't a one-off occurrence," Ed joked and saw Mustang's lips twitch upwards slightly. "Don't worry about it. I imagine you learned your lesson about barging into rooms unannounced and I'm _sure_ you won't do it again, assuming you survive Winry's wrench tomorrow," Ed said and saw an interesting look of fear and disbelief that Winry would pull a wrench on him cross Mustang's face. "Seriously, its fine and you're forgiven on my end." Ed could've sworn he saw relief in Mustang's eyes before the older man managed to regain control of himself and within seconds his mask of professionalism was back in place.

"Thank you, Edward," Mustang said and Ed, assuming the conversation was now over, went to go back into his bedroom. He managed to get his hand on the door knob when Mustang spoke again. "You _were_ kidding about the team finding out about what I did, right?" Mustang didn't think Ed's answering chuckle was very comforting or informative as he followed the blonde into the room.

* * *

Ed woke up to the sound of his bedroom door opening and someone small trying to sneak into his room, emphasis on 'trying'. He feigned sleep, ignoring the Lions who had startled when he did, only sending them a reassuring message that he wasn't about to be assassinated while he waited for the person to finish their 'sneaky' approach. Once he was certain they were right next to him, he opened his eyes. "What do you think you're doing, Elysia?" he asked, making the young girl squeak in shock.

"Big brother! You scared me!" Elysia pouted and Ed laughed.

"And what were _you_ about to do?" he asked and she grinned sheepishly before giggling when Ed poked her lightly in the side. "That's what I thought," he said, tickling her once more before stopping his attack. A look behind Elysia showed him that both Al and Mustang were gone and a glance at the lone clock in the room showed him it was a lot later than he had expected.

"Mama and big brother Al asked me to wake you up so you could have some brekkie!" Elysia said as she climbed up into his bed and lay down beside him.

"I see," Ed said once she was settled. "You do know that for me to get up, you have to now as well?" Ed said amusedly.

"I know but I missed you lots and your bed is comfy," Elysia said, peering up at him and Ed rolled his eyes at her attempt to look like Bambi (a reference he knew thanks to the Disney movies Pidge had uploaded to his tablet) and shook his head at her. That didn't mean the Lions were immune.

"_She's adorable. How can you resist that face?" _Yellow asked and Ed snorted in amusement.

"_**I've had years of practise thanks to Alphonse and Winry,"**_ Ed told them but the Lions didn't seem to understand how it was possible.

"_Please_, big brother?" Elysia pleaded and Ed felt himself ready to give in but steeled himself before her trap could work.

"You can stay here until I get back from the bathroom but then we're going downstairs because I'm hungry," Ed told her, climbing out of his bed, careful not to accidentally squish the five-year-old or put any of his weight on his healing left arm.

"Alright, big brother," Elysia said, snuggling under his abandoned blankets and leeching the warm spot his body left behind. Ed rolled his eyes once more before heading for the bathroom.

"_You almost gave in! You're not as immune as you think you are,"_ Green chuckled slightly as Ed made it to the bathroom.

"_**I never said I was immune; I've just managed to build up a resistance,"**_ Ed informed her but he felt like none of the Lions bought that completely.

Once he had showered and changed into some spare clothes he kept permanently at Granny's home, Ed headed back for his room and found Elysia right where she'd made herself at home. Shaking his head at her, he combed out his hair and plaited it back before securing it with a hair-tie. After that, he headed over to the sleeping child and gently shook her shoulder.

"Come on, El, let's go get some breakfast now," Ed said as the little girl grumbled. Ed shook her shoulder again and Elysia finally blinked up at him. "Get outta my bed and let's get some food," Ed ordered and Elysia yawned before complying.

"_You're so mean,"_ Blue informed him. _"She looked really peaceful." _

"_**She slept all night and will likely nap later today or go to bed early tonight,"**_ Ed told them. _**"She'll be fine." **_Ed said, shutting the bedroom door behind them only to have Elysia claim his automail hand immediately and cling to it as they made their way to the kitchen. They ran into Gracia at the bottom of the stairs, surprising all three of them.

"Oh, good. I was about to come up and see what the holdup was," Gracia said, smiling softly at both of them.

"Well, _someone_ decided my bed was too comfy to get out of while I was in the shower," Ed said, nudging Elysia gently, who giggled in response.

"She did miss you and Alphonse a lot while we were here so I'm not surprised she claimed your bed," Gracia said, unknowingly repeating what Elysia had said earlier. "There's still some breakfast left for the two of you."

"Awesome. Thanks, Miss Gracia," Ed said before squeezing Elysia's hand to get her attention. "Are you coming with me to get breakfast?" He asked and she nodded. "Right, let's go!" Ed said, pulling Elysia along with him as she giggled while trying to keep up with his larger steps. Gracia just shook her head at their antics as she followed them at a more sedate pace.

Mustang, Alphonse, Hawkeye, Winry and Granny were all in the kitchen, helping themselves to the last of their breakfasts. Granny had pulled out some extra, older chairs to make sure there was enough seating for everyone around the table. Ed helped Elysia into her seat and dished her up some breakfast before he served any up for himself.

"Thanks, Granny," Ed said before he started eating.

"Thank you, Granny," Elysia echoed, though she had a forkful of eggs in her mouth when she did so. She got an admonishing look from her mother and quickly swallowed her mouthful before repeating the sentiments followed by an apology.

"That's alright, you two," Granny said as she got busy clearing up the empty dishes. She settled back at the table once she'd finished her self-assigned work and waited until Ed had finished his mouthful before asking what she'd wanted to know. "What happened last night, Ed?"

"I got paid a visit by Truth," he told them simply. "It told me that the agents wouldn't be going home unless an alchemist let them use their Gate." Winry gasped and Pinako looked shocked.

"You don't mean..?" Winry asked, not being able to actually finish voicing her question and Ed nodded.

"Yeah, we had to use _that_ array," he confirmed, though his refusal to say what array was mainly because of Elysia. She was still far too young to know anything about human transmutation or the reason why he had automail. "Once I was awake, Mustang and Al followed me downstairs where we got all the BAU together and I told everyone what Truth told me; none of the agents would be going home without help from me or another alchemist." Ed scowled, still pissed about that.

"Didn't Truth explain that to them when they first agreed to come here?" Gracia asked, puzzled, but Edward shook his head.

"Truth only promised the agents that _they_ wouldn't have to pay a toll but that didn't mean it wasn't expecting a toll to be paid. It was just expecting the alchemist who activated the array to be the one to pay it," Ed told them and saw the angry and worried looks on the adult women's faces.

"Well, since none you required my services last night, I'm assuming the toll wasn't physical," Pinako said and Mustang nodded.

"Only Fullmetal and I paid a toll. Alphonse didn't go with us, just in case we were in need of your skills when all was said and done," Mustang said, dipping his head to Pinako. "Fullmetal and I owe Truth a favour each, which it can call in at anytime and it took back my ability to transmute without needing circle." Hawkeye didn't look impressed about that but she didn't say anything.

"So, they're definitely gone? The agents?" Winry asked and Ed nodded.

"Yeah, they're back home," Ed confirmed, slightly subdued but no one pointed it out.

"Well, I would've appreciated the opportunity to give them my gratitude once more but I'm just grateful that they were able to go home without the two of you paying a far larger price than you did," Hawkeye said, clasping her hands together on the table.

"Will they come back to visit?" Elysia asked as she speared a piece of bacon. "I liked them."

"Probably not, El. You remember where I said they were from?" Ed asked and Elysia nodded. "Well, their world doesn't have alchemy like ours does. Their visit was only because someone really powerful didn't want your uncle in prison. Now that he isn't, they went back home and they have no way of coming back," Ed explained and Elysia frowned.

"Can't we visit them?" Elysia asked and Al shook his head.

"To use the array we'd need to visit them, we would need lots and lots of alchemists to help us power it and we can't ask anyone to help because we have to keep the agents' world a secret, remember?" Alphonse said and Elysia nodded sadly.

"So, we won't see them again?" she asked sadly and Gracia squeezed her hand.

"Probably not, sweetie," she said, smiling apologetically at her daughter. "You must remember that you can't tell anyone where the agents came from or how your big brother and uncle really met them, alright?" Gracia pressed and Elysia nodded.

"I know, mama," she said, giving Gracia a big smile before busying herself with the breakfast that was left on her plate. Elysia's acceptance of the reminder seemed to mark the end of the conversation about the agents' disappearance – for the time being at least – and the rest of breakfast passed with easy chatter filling the cosy kitchen.

* * *

Since Al thought he was much too excited about the possibility of seeing Mustang get his arse handed to him by Winry's wrench (and could he really be blamed? After all, he was usually the target of Winry's wrath!), Al volunteered Ed to accompany Hawkeye into town so they could collect the train tickets they'd need for tomorrow. Because they hadn't been completely sure whether the agents would be home before Hawkeye and Mustang were required back in Central, and thus didn't know whether the boys or the Hughes' would be accompanying them, Hawkeye had made the decision to leave booking the tickets home until she knew how many she had to book for.

That was why Ed found himself being unceremoniously shoved at Hawkeye when she asked whether someone would mind escorting her into town. The only thing that stopped Ed from openly scowling at Alphonse – and wondering how the heck his brother even knew about Mustang's plan to apologise to Winry – was the fact that Elysia was begging her mother, Hawkeye and Ed himself for permission to join them on their walk.

"You can take Den too. He needs the exercise," Pinako said once Gracia and Hawkeye had given the little girl their blessing. Ed's permission had always been given since he truly didn't mind Elysia being around him all the time and never missed a chance to spend time with her unless he was in places she couldn't be with him, like the Central library or on his missions.

"_See? You really are a big softie,"_ Green cooed, like the little shit she was but Ed decided to be the bigger man and ignore her. _"You do know we stand twice as tall as you, even in our flesh forms, right?" _Green asked teasingly and this time, Ed mentally stuck his tongue out at her.

"_Mature,"_ Black drawled and Ed just _knew_ the Paladins were laughing at their exchange from the feeling he got through the bond. _"You would be correct about that assumption, though, cub,"_ Black confirmed and Ed scoffed mentally.

"_**Tell your Paladins that they're arseholes,"**_ Ed instructed, semi-jokingly.

"_Hunk isn't laughing at you,"_ Yellow said in defence of her Paladin and Ed grinned slightly.

"_**Then tell him he's my new favourite,"**_ Ed said and felt Yellow's preening on behalf of her pilot.

"Edward, are you ready to go?" Hawkeye's voice broke him from the silent conversation he was having and he noted both her and Elysia were standing by the door, waiting on him.

"Sorry, yeah, let's go," Ed said, heading to join the two of them. _**"I forgot how distracting you lot are,"**_ Ed mentally teased the Lions as he whistled for Den to follow. The old dog did so with an exuberance Ed envied.

"_You should learn to multitask,"_ Red said, completely unperturbed by Ed's teasing. _"You know, like us."_

"_**You lot have had thousands of years to learn to multitask!"**_ Ed protested hotly and pouted when all the Lions did was laugh at him.

"What's wrong, big brother?" Elysia asked, successfully drawing him out of his sulk and making him just barely hold back a jolt as he realised she was holding his automail hand. He hadn't even noticed her doing so and gave her fingers a small, gentle squeeze.

"The Lions are teasing me," Ed told her and she made a cross face as she glared at his forehead.

"Tell them I said they had to stop," Elysia ordered and Ed caught Hawkeye's lips twitching up in amusement at the five-year-old ordering ten thousand year old Lions around.

"Did you lot hear that?" Ed asked out loud for Elysia's benefit. "The boss has spoken."

"_It's not fair using your adorable adopted sister against us, you know?" _Blue whined.

"_Yeah, that's just playing dirty,"_ Red told him but Ed was certain he heard a note of respect in her voice.

"They're backing off," Ed told Elysia, who smiled widely at him. "You keep this attitude up and soon Mustang will be taking orders from you," he said, gently bumping Elysia's shoulder with their joined hands

"If it gets him to complete his paperwork on time, I'll hire Elysia myself," Hawkeye said, her tone deceptively serious but Ed caught the glint in her eye that told him she was only joking. Mostly.

* * *

The rest of the walk was spent with Elysia chattering to both Hawkeye and Ed about a multitude of subjects, such as what she did while she was at Pinako's, what she saw during the walk with them and what she wanted to help her mum cook when everyone came over for the big celebration feast for Mustang. Den entertained himself by following every scent he found interesting, though he was always sure to never leave Ed's eyesight, as he had been trained to do.

"Den, heel," Ed called once they entered the town and the dog did as instructed so he wouldn't be in anyone's way. "Train station is this way," Ed said, gesturing with his automail in the direction he meant. Though she already knew that, Hawkeye just nodded and allowed Ed to lead.

Since there were no trains in the station, there wasn't a big crowd of people to deal with. Den and Elysia stuck close to Ed and Hawkeye though, just in case. The small group approached the ticket desk and the middle-aged man behind it perked up immediately at the sight of customers and a small reprieve from his boredom.

"How can I help you?" He – Dennis, according to his name tag – asked, eyes flicking between Ed and Hawkeye.

"I would like to procure six tickets on the first train to Central that leaves tomorrow," Hawkeye told him. The man nodded and got the tickets ready for her.

"The train leaves at seven o'clock tomorrow morning. Boarding will begin at six forty-five," Dennis told her as he handed the tickets over inside an envelope.

"Excellent. Please send the bill to Brigadier General Mustang's office in Central," Hawkeye said as Ed flashed his pocket-watch before Dennis could even ask about payment.

"Will do," Dennis said, writing the instructions down. "Have a good day," he bade them with a practised smile that Elysia returned in spades.

"You too, Mister!" she said enthusiastically before Ed and Hawkeye could offer their own polite well-wishes to the ticket-booth employee. Ed and Hawkeye simply chose to nod to the man, who looked slightly surprised and a little envious at the level of energy Elysia had displayed. Ed didn't blame him, if he was being honest.

"Come on, Den. Let's head back," Ed said to the dog as they left the station and Den fell in step with them, tongue lolling happily out as he limped along and checked out his surroundings. "Granny didn't ask us to get anything from the shops, did she?" Ed asked suddenly but Hawkeye shook her head.

"No, no requests were made," she told him and Ed sighed in relief. After the near-week with the agents, his bank account would be grateful for the small break. At least until Winry gave him his bill for the recent automail installations.

Once again, their walk was made in comfortable silence, only broken by Elysia finding something or Den's yapping whenever something like a squirrel caught his eye. Ed did have to go and investigate when Den started really barking at something, a behaviour that meant he had spotted something potentially dangerous or unknown to him but it turned out to be a very startled lizard that had taken the opportunity the warm day had presented to bask on a sun-soaked rock.

"Den, you're an idiot," Ed told him, ruffling his ears playfully. "Come on, you mighty warrior. We still gotta get back," Ed said and after a final warning bark at the lizard, Den followed Ed back to the road where Elysia and Hawkeye had been instructed to wait. "Lizard," Ed said simply and Hawkeye relaxed before leading Elysia up the road once more.

* * *

"Ed, I just wanted to thank you," Hawkeye said a few minutes, startling Ed as they'd been walking in silence since the lizard incident. Elysia and Den were a few metres up ahead, Elysia picking wildflowers from the side of the road.

"Uh, what for?" Ed asked and Hawkeye glanced at him before focusing her eyes forward again.

"For finding me so quickly after Belmont kidnapped me," she said simply. "I'm aware of how much pressure was on you, with your worry for Alphonse, myself and clearing the general's name. Not to mention that I am aware that you were likely berating yourself as well for not anticipating that I might be a target. But despite all of that, you managed to find and rescue me within a day and a half of my kidnapping so thank you."

"You don't have to thank me for that, Miss Riza. Even if I'd been ordered by Grumman to not look for you, I would've anyways. You know I'm not very good about following orders sometimes. Besides," Ed said with a half-grin, "after the amount of times you guys have had to rescue me from kidnappers, I think I owed you this one. Equivalent exchange." Hawkeye chuckled at that.

"Yes, you do have an extraordinary talent for getting yourself kidnapped," Hawkeye agreed, "but that doesn't mean I don't owe you a thanks. You saw how unstable Belmont was when you managed to get me out of her grasp and ruin her plans. Can you imagine how long her patience would've lasted with me refusing to give her the answers she wanted?" Ed knew it was a rhetorical question but he still shuddered at the thought. "The fact that you managed to figure out Belmont's identity while under enough pressure that almost anyone else would've caved under is truly awe-inspiring. Please accept my thanks?" Hawkeye asked, turning to face Ed while keeping Elysia in sight.

"Alright, Miss Riza. You're welcome and I am really glad that we managed to find you so quickly," Ed said with a genuine smile.

Hawkeye hesitated for a moment before coming to a decision and Ed almost squawked when Hawkeye pulled into a hug without warning. She made sure to avoid his injuries but held onto him as tight as she dared and soon Ed found himself returning the hug as best he could with only one arm. Neither of them said anything more to each other, just letting their actions speak for themselves. Ed was about to pull away when a small force slammed into his side and the slightly surprised gasp told him the force had hit Hawkeye too.

"Group hug!" Elysia squealed, wrapping her small arms around the both of them as best she could and neither could say no to the little girl so they included her in the hug. Only Den's yaps drew them out of their moment and both adults managed to extract themselves from Elysia, though she did take one of their hands in each of hers, crushing the small bouquet of flowers she held in between her hand and Hawkeye's.

"Who are the flowers for, El?" Ed asked as they started walking once more.

"They're for mama!" she told him, sounding excited to get them to Gracia.

"Well, I suggest we get them to Miss Gracia as quickly as possible, huh?" Ed said and Elysia nodded in vehement agreement. "Come on then, let's get going." Elysia's agreement was joined by Den's excited yap and Ed rolled his eyes at the dog before following the two most enthusiastic members of their group with Hawkeye close beside him.

* * *

"Did Mustang get knocked out?" Ed asked the moment he spotted his brother on the veranda, obviously waiting for their return. Hawkeye gave Ed a reprimanding glare but didn't say anything as she led Elysia into the house.

"No, he didn't, Brother. Winry was very gracious and accepted the apology with no threat of violence," Al told him, giving Ed an unimpressed look when the older Elric pouted at the news.

"Well, that's not fair." Al wondered if Ed had to stop himself from stamping his foot as he whined.

"I'm sure you'll live, Brother," Al said dryly. "How'd you do in town?"

"Yeah, got the tickets with no hassles. Den found a lizard and thought it was a serial killer in disguise so he went off at it. Other than that, completely uneventful," Ed reported back as he finally joined Al on the veranda. Den headed for his water dish to take a well-earned drink of water.

"He's just doing his job," Al said, defending the black and white dog.

"It was a lizard!" Ed exclaimed, causing Al to cackle at Ed's indignation.

"So, what's the plan for the rest of the day?" Al asked and Ed shrugged his good shoulder.

"Dunno. We have to get to the station by six forty-five tomorrow morning so we'll probably leave here at six so we're there on time," Ed told him. "I can't spar because I already know you'll say no if I ask and there's no one else good enough to go up against around here." Al nodded in agreement to both points.

"That's true. We could see if Granny still has some books around here and read those," Al suggested and Ed sighed.

"It's better than being bored, I suppose," Ed moaned, leading the way to the front door only to be stopped when Mustang blocked his path.

"Good. You're both still out here," Mustang said, stepping through the front door to join them on the veranda, flanked by Hawkeye. "I was hoping to talk to both of you."

* * *

Mustang hadn't planned to wait for Edward to leave the house before he spoke to Winry. In fact, until his captain had asked for an escort and Al had all but shoved Ed at her, Mustang hadn't even known Edward would be out of the house. But he did leave the house and Mustang, ever the gracious guest, offered to help Gracia and the elder Rockbell woman clean up after the breakfast spread. They'd accepted the help readily and both Winry and Alphonse escaped before they could be asked to help as well.

Once the breakfast dishes were mostly taken care of, the two women had kicked Mustang out of the kitchen, claiming they didn't need his help anymore and he could make himself useful somewhere else. He left before they changed their minds. He didn't have any plans to speak to Winry right away but found himself in front of her door before he knew it so he knocked.

"Yeah?" Winry called from inside the room and Mustang entered. Both Winry and Al looked mildly surprised to see Mustang come through the door though Al didn't look as surprised as Winry, telling Mustang he'd known this visit would happen.

"Is something the matter, General Mustang?" Al asked but Mustang knew Al knew nothing has happened.

"No, Alphonse. I merely wished to speak with Miss Rockbell about something," Mustang told him and Al made to stand. "You can stay if you wish. I believe you know why I'm here anyway," Mustang said, brow raised and Al nodded.

"Despite your efforts, your conversation with Ed wasn't as quiet as you thought it was," Al told him with an apologetic smile.

"What are the two of you talking about?" Winry asked and her tone reminded Mustang of Ed just before he lost his patience. Mustang could see Winry was working on an automail limb and figured that he should get to the point before she really did lose her patience. He had no desire to see if she would remind him of Ed in that aspect as well, and Ed's threat about Winry's wrench was still at the forefront of his mind.

"Miss Rockbell, I wished to apologise for my ill-mannered actions yesterday afternoon. I should not have entered your workshop or room without permission, especially when you had a patient, like I did. It was disrespectful of me to do so and I hope you accept my sincerest apologies," Mustang said, dipping into a slight bow. When he straightened back up a moment later, Winry looked far more surprised than she had before.

"Uh, thanks?" she said, looking at Al like she wasn't entirely certain how to proceed. Al looked like he was trying to hide his amusement at her uncertainty. "Just, you know, knock next time so it doesn't happen again," Winry said, giving him a small smile before turning back to her work.

"Don't worry, Miss Rockbell, I have learnt that lesson well and truly," Mustang said sincerely. Despite Ed's warnings, Mustang hadn't seen her produce a wrench in a threatening manner yet and he wanted to keep it that way.

"Awesome," was all Winry said in response as she grabbed a spanner to make an adjustment to something on the limb in front of her.

"Was there anything else, General?" Al asked when Mustang didn't leave immediately. Al's question got Winry's attention once more and she looked at Mustang curiously.

"Actually, yes. There is something I'd like to know," Mustang said, nodding to Winry. "Is there anything I should be doing to make sure Fullmetal looks after his automail correctly?" he asked and couldn't keep the smirk completely off his face when both of them looked surprised.

"You want automail maintenance advice for Ed?" Winry asked, voice drenched in disbelief and Mustang didn't blame her.

He'd known Ed for nearly seven years and had him under his employ for nearly five years. For those five years, Ed had had automail limbs and Mustang had never once asked anyone for automail maintenance advice before. He'd never even spared a thought about the requirements of any upkeep to the automail but after seeing how painful it was for Ed to get new limbs fitted and realising that he averaged two sets of automail a year with his reckless behaviour (though there was that one memorable year where he'd been forced to visit Winry no less than six times for his automail), Mustang wanted to know if there was any way he could try and lessen those visits.

"Please," was all Mustang said in response and Winry and Al shared a look before Winry turned to Mustang.

"There isn't much you can do since Ed usually wreaks my beautiful automail while he'd being a reckless idiot out on missions and you're not with him," Winry growled darkly at the memories of Ed coming home with his automail in various stages of damage, "but you can start by asking if he's sure there's no damage to it when he gives you a report." Mustang nodded in understanding and Winry continued. "Alphonse already knows all of this and I know he actually forces Ed to keep up with his maintenance but it wouldn't hurt to have you nagging him as well."

"What can I do?" Mustang asked, giving her his full attention.

"Ed needs to make sure he oils his automail every week. Twice a month at the very least or he risks the gears and joints seizing. It needs to be completely dried out after he goes for a shower or gets it wet in any way or else it'll rust. This new set won't have that problem, hopefully, so he can be a bit slack about how quickly he dries the limbs out if he has to be," Winry told him. "As I said before, asking him if there's definitely no nerve or connector damage to the limbs after a mission would be good. Maybe try not sending him after criminals who try and beat him by destroying my precious automail? That would be very helpful," Winry said, glaring at Mustang.

"Winry, you know those are the kinds of missions Brother prefers. He hates the ones where all he does is check on research alchemists or where he has to act as a mediator," Alphonse chided gently and Winry huffed but didn't argue.

"Other than that, you can make sure I'm called immediately if Ed winds up in the hospital again with obvious automail damage. That way he's not stuck in hospital with broken limbs longer than necessary," Winry told him and Mustang nodded.

"Thank you, Miss Rockbell. I will take your advice on board and try to follow it as much as I can," Mustang promised her. "I'll leave the two of you be. Thank you once more, Miss Rockbell, and I apologise once again for my behaviour yesterday," Mustang said, bowing slightly before leaving the room before either teenager could say anything in response.

He headed back downstairs and found Pinako and Gracia sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in front of them. After being told there was still plenty of hot water left if he wanted a hot drink, Mustang took them up on the offer and got himself a coffee to try and fight off any lingering tiredness left over from the previous night. Gracia was the one to start asking questions about what happened in more detail last night and Mustang was happy enough to give her the answers she wanted to know.

* * *

"Where are you off to, Alphonse?" Pinako's question jolted Mustang and he turned slightly to see Al heading for the front door. A quick look at the clock told him that he's been talking for nearly half an hour.

"Brother, Captain Hawkeye and Elysia should be back soon. I'm going to wait for them on the front veranda," Al explained. Pinako nodded once and Al disappeared through the front door.

"What happened after that, Roy?" Gracia asked, drawing Mustang back into their conversation and he picked up from where he'd left off. He continued talking until he heard Al talking to someone and excused himself with an apologetic smile to Gracia before heading for the front door, only to be stopped by his captain and god-child.

"Hello, Uncle Roy! I got mummy flowers!" Elysia greeted, thrusting a slightly damaged bouquet of flowers up at him for him to look at.

"They're lovely, Elysia. You did a wonderful job at picking the prettiest flowers. I'm sure your mother will love them," Mustang said, giving the girl a big smile and ruffling her hair.

"Thank you, Uncle Roy," Elysia beamed before heading to the kitchen.

"Everything sorted for tomorrow, Captain?" Mustang asked and Hawkeye nodded.

"The train will leave at seven and we are required to be there fifteen minutes beforehand, General Mustang," Hawkeye told him and Mustang nodded.

"Thank you for booking and collecting the tickets," Mustang said and Hawkeye mimicked his nod.

"Of course, Sir," Hawkeye said. "Is there something else you require of me?" she asked but Mustang shook his head.

"No, thank you, Captain Hawkeye, but that is all. I do need to go and speak with the Elric brothers if you wish to join me," he told her. She looked a little surprised and intrigued so when he resumed his journey for the front door, he wasn't surprised that she followed him. They almost bumped into Edward at the front door. "Good, you're both still here. I wanted to talk to you," Mustang said. Edward narrowed his eyes in suspicion but Alphonse just smiled.

"There's a nice, shady place right over there if you wanted to sit," Al said, pointing in the direction of a small table surrounded by four chairs underneath the wide, spreading branches of an oak tree.

"Thank you, Alphonse," Mustang said, heading for the chairs and claiming one of them. Hawkeye followed his lead, as did Alphonse and Edward, though the older blonde did seem to do so with some hesitance. Pinako's dog joined the two brothers, settling down in between them and receiving pats on the head from both boys.

"Alright, what do you want?" Ed asked, leaning back in his chair before grumbling and adjusting the sling he was still wearing. Ed thought he saw a flash of guilt in Mustang's eyes but it was gone before he could be certain.

"I wanted to take the chance to thank both of you," Mustang said simply and almost laughed when the three of them looked shocked, though Hawkeye was quick to cover hers up.

"Why?" Al asked, looking at Ed in confusion. Ed just shrugged since he didn't have any idea what Mustang was on about either.

"I don't know if you know this, Edward, but I've held a lot of regret and guilt for offering you your State Alchemy position with the military," Mustang said and Ed's brows furrowed even deeper as his confusion grew. "I'll also admit that if I had the chance to go back to the moment I offered you the job, even knowing the sorts of things you would see and experience, I would still offer it to you because of what you were able to uncover and help us achieve. But that doesn't mean I don't have any guilt over offering it to you when you were twelve," Mustang told him.

"You're forgiven?" Ed said, though it came out more as a question than a statement and caused Mustang to smile ruefully.

"I'm not telling you this so you'll forgive, though it is appreciated," Mustang said. "I'm telling you this so I can thank you." A glance at Hawkeye told the boys that she wasn't entirely sure where Mustang was going with this either. "I know that I haven't always been the greatest commanding officer, especially during the first few years of your employment. I also know that if you'd been given the chance to get to know some of the other commanders, you might have been willing to serve under someone else, but I am glad you never left my team for someone like Archer." Ed and Al decided not to point out that there was no way either of them would've let Ed move to the creepy lieutenant colonel's command.

"I also know that I've tested your patience with how far I could push you and I know how close I've come to finding even your limit, Alphonse," Mustang said, nodding to the younger boy. "I know that you would've been a lot happier and had fewer hospital admissions had you been placed under someone like General Andrews, but as I've told Agent Gibbs and Shiro, I was the first person to actually investigate the rumours that led me to Resembool all those years ago but I was certainly not the only one who heard about them. Had I not been the one to approach you, someone else would've and, despite my attitude towards you, I was the best choice for you." Mustang grimaced. "There are also other officers within the military who wouldn't have offered you a place in the military, but would have reported you for your human transmutation. I know you weren't happy about our agreement at first, and I know that our first meeting didn't exactly present the military or myself in the best light. Though given who your other choices were, it wouldn't have been hard to be a better commanding officer than some of them."

Edward nodded reluctantly. He'd met some of the officers who had heard the same rumours about him that had drawn Mustang to Resembool and he'd been internally grateful each time that Mustang had been the one to approach him. After their transmutation had failed, some part of Ed had been waiting for the day when a military officer would show up and punish them for what they had done. The fact that it had been Mustang who had shown up – and that he had seen opportunity where others would have just seen a blatantly illegal transmutation – had made it a little easier to accept the older man as his commander.

"While I know our relationship has gotten smoother since Promised Day, I still know how hard it is to forget those first few years so I wanted to make sure you knew how grateful I am that you were able and willing to step-up after I was arrested," Mustang said, his whole body language completely open so they could see how honest he was being. "I know you've had minimal experience leading an entire team. But somehow you managed to not only lead my team, do my job, and investigate a case as massive as mine was. And you did all of that while dealing with people like General Combes and General Widdon, and you did so supremely well. I have absolutely no doubt that even if the BAU hadn't arrived to help us that you would've been able to uncover Belmont's identity and clear my name. I owe you a massive debt for not only finding out the truth but for also keeping the team together, so thank you," Mustang stated, finishing what he wanted to say and leaning back slightly in his chair. Hawkeye gave him a proud look but both Elrics still looked completely flummoxed by what had just happened.

"Holy shit," Ed said and for once, Alphonse didn't admonish him for his language, though Mustang was certain it was because Ed had said what Al had been thinking. "Uh, you're welcome, Mustang. I'm sure you would've done the same for me, even back before Promised Day. I am glad you were the one to offer me the chance to become a State Alchemist and I wouldn't turn down your offer if I found myself back in that time again. You may be a bastard but you definitely were the least bastardly commanding officer I could have had," Ed told him with an attempt at his usual shit-eating grin. It wasn't close though and Mustang assumed it was because Ed was still slightly in shock at what Mustang had said. If he was being honest, Mustang was a little in shock at how much he'd said as well.

"Be nice, Brother," Alphonse scolded Ed reflexively but it seemed to be the thing that broke him out of his shocked state. "Thank you for your kind words, General Mustang, but when you mentioned Generals Combes and Widdon, I remembered that I wanted to ask the two of you something," he said, gesturing to Mustang and Ed. "What are your plans for them?"

"I haven't really spared them a thought, if I'm being honest," Mustang said. "Though now that you ask, Alphonse, I believe – based on what I've heard of their behaviour this past week and my own previous dealings with them – that they are involved in something they shouldn't be," Mustang told them and Ed snorted.

"Of course they are. That's the only reason I could think of for why they were trying so hard to convince everyone that you were guilty and to twist Grumman's arm so he would send you to trial as soon as possible," Ed said. "Those dickwads are up to something illegal and they were terrified you were going to turn your attention to them before long, especially once they learned you were investigating Henley."

"I believe the same thing," Mustang said. "However, I don't think we should investigate them right away." He held a hand up when both brothers went to question him. "Right now, both generals are on edge because I've been released and because they've pissed Edward off. They'll be expecting us to open an investigation into them immediately and they'll have taken every measure to try and cover their tracks. However," he said, "if we simply wait two or three months and ignore them, they'll start to relax. Then, we wait another month or so after that and they'll think they're in the clear. If we start our investigation then and keep it quiet, by the time they figure out we're looking into them, they won't be able to do anything," Mustang explained. Ed didn't look happy that he would have to wait to get his revenge on the generals but he and Al nodded in agreement.

"I want in on bringing them down though," Ed said, giving Mustang a look that told him exactly what would happen if he wasn't involved.

"I'd be an idiot to try and keep you out of the investigation," Mustang told him and Ed nodded, satisfied that he wouldn't be kept out of the loop. Hawkeye and Mustang shared a look that Ed and Al couldn't decipher but before either boy could ask, Hawkeye was standing up.

"Alphonse, would you mind helping me for a moment?" Hawkeye asked. Ed and Al shared a look of their own but Al did nod at Hawkeye and stood as well.

"Of course not, Captain Hawkeye," Al said, giving Ed another look though it was plainly one warning him to behave himself. Ed rolled his eyes at his younger brother and watched as the two left him alone with Mustang.

"Alright, what now?" Ed asked, a little warily, not that Mustang blamed him.

"After the Lions revealed their initial reasons for disliking me so much, it made me realise how much I still needed to apologise to you for, Edward," Mustang told him and Ed gave him a look the older alchemist couldn't quite decipher.

"You don't need to apologise for anything else, Mustang. I'm fairly certain you've filled your yearly quota of the number of apologies and gratitude you can give me, anyways," Ed joked, trying to avoid the conversation but Mustang wasn't about to let him.

"Yes, I do. I hadn't even realised that I never apologised to you for any of the things the Lions pointed out and that isn't right," Mustang told him and watched as Ed tried to cover his discomfort. The fact that Ed clearly didn't know how to handle apologies from him made Mustang even angrier at himself and he silently swore an oath to give Ed an apology every time he was owed one. "I am so sorry I never told you the truth about Hughes. I don't have a good reason for lying to you and telling you and Alphonse he had moved to the country and retired. I knew you would've eventually found out the truth from someone else, so I think I just didn't want to be the one to tell you about it. It was cowardly and it was wrong and I apologise for that."

"It's okay, Mustang. I know I wouldn't have wanted to be the one to break the news to you either so I get it," Ed said, his discomfort still evident in the way he wouldn't maintain eye contact.

"That doesn't make it right. As your commanding officer it is my job to inform you of any deaths or injuries that you should know about," Mustang told him sternly, refusing to let Ed try and nullify any apology he made. "I also should've trusted you more when it came to the plan about Lieutenant Maria Ross. I am well aware of how well you can keep a secret – you and your brother both – so I have no good reason for why I chose to keep you out of the plan. I'll admit that I didn't foresee you finding me right after I burned the fake body. I had fully expected a random soldier to discover us so I was horrified when I realised it was you and that, from your perspective, I had just killed someone you knew and were friends with right in front of your eyes," Mustang admitted and Ed didn't bother hiding his shock at that.

"At that point, however, the only thing that I could do was continue to play my part to buy time for Havoc and Breda to smuggle Lieutenant Ross out of Central. The explosion was large enough and flashy enough that someone else could have stumbled on us at any moment, so there wasn't time for me to explain it to you then. However, I had absolutely no reason to strike you, regardless of the situation we were in, and you would have been completely justified in filing a complaint against me if you had chosen to. I should _never_ have laid a hand on you like that and I definitely should not have denied you an explanation or an apology for so long."

Ed looked up at that and saw a pleading expression in Mustang's eyes, begging him to believe him. "There aren't many things I've done that I regret more than hitting you in that moment." Ed's eyes fell to the yellow and green bruise Mustang still sported along his jaw and he resisted the urge to pull his legs up and hide behind his knees to escape the intensity of Mustang's guilt.

"Well, I think we're even for that," Ed said, tapping the right side of his jaw to indicate what he was talking about. "I'm sorry for hitting you too. I probably shouldn't have done that," Ed said, meeting Mustang's gaze again and, to his continued surprise, seeing disagreement in them.

"While I'll admit you throw one hell of a punch and that I certainly hope I'm never on the receiving end of one again because I did think you'd broken my jaw, it was completely deserved and you and I both know it," Mustang told him and Ed felt a same flutter of pride that his punch had been that strong, though he squashed that pride down. "I used the guilt I knew you would feel about Captain Hawkeye and the guilt I knew you felt over Hughes to hurt you as much as I could because all I wanted in that moment was for someone to feel worse than I did. I know I've already apologised for what I said but I'm doing so again. It wasn't your fault that Belmont kidnapped Captain Hawkeye, just like it wasn't your fault Hughes was killed and I am so sorry I said that," Mustang said, letting Ed see how heartfelt his apologies were.

"I already forgave you for that, Mustang. You don't have to keep apologising for it," Ed muttered and Mustang nodded.

"I know I have and I know I don't but I will never stop feeling guilty about it – or anything else I've done to you that you didn't deserve – so I will keep apologising until I know you believe I'm being sincere," Mustang said, telling him subtly that he knew Ed still harboured doubts about whether he meant his angered words or not.

"I'm not going to be able to make you stop, am I?" Ed asked, sighing slightly when Mustang grinned in response.

"Nope," Mustang said simply, climbing to his feet and holding a hand out for Ed to take. The young alchemist accepted the hand and let his commanding officer pull him to his feet. Ed nearly squeaked when he found himself pulled into another completely unexpected hug.

"Mustang, you're hugging me," Ed said, slightly muffled against the shirt Mustang was wearing. He both felt and heard Mustang chuckle.

"Yes, I am. If you don't return it, it's gonna get awkward," Mustang warned and grinned victoriously when he felt a metal arm snake its way around his back and settle lightly before the grip was tightened significantly. Mustang didn't call Ed out on it; he just tightened his own hold in response.

They stayed like that for a while, neither giving any indication they wanted to stop the hug. Neither alchemist could recall any time where they showed each other this level of affection. In fact, the only time that they could think of was immediately after Edward and Shiro had killed Haggar and Mustang had wrapped Ed in a hug in an effort to try and comfort him. They only separated this time when they picked up the sounds of someone inside the house walking to the front door.

"Hey, if the two of you are all done talking out here, Granny says that lunch is ready," Al said, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the kitchen.

"Thanks, Al. We'll be right there," Mustang told him and Ed nodded in agreement. Al narrowed his eyes at their behaviour but decided to leave it alone for the moment and headed back inside. "We should go get some lunch," Mustang said and Ed nodded again. "After all, we both know how cranky you get if you don't get any food in you," Mustang teased, throwing an arm over Ed's shoulder.

"Oi!" Ed protested, growling slightly when all Mustang did was smirk at him as they walked to the door. Neither alchemist missed the fact that Mustang's arm was still over Ed's shoulder and that the blond made no effort to escape until they were about to walk inside.

* * *

The rest of the day passed at a comfortable pace. Since Ed couldn't spar against anyone, Elysia claimed him and Alphonse for most of the day to help her with her drawings and to use their alchemy to entertain her. Pinako did give them a few chores throughout the day that the boys were more than happy to do for her. Hawkeye and Mustang were treated as guests so they weren't asked to do much, though they did offer their help even if they were turned down more often than not.

Winry stayed up in her workroom for the majority of the day, only leaving it for food or if she needed something. Gracia was busy making sure she had everything she and Elysia had brought with her so they wouldn't be rushing around in the morning trying to find a misplaced shirt or drawing. Pinako had offered to set up cots for Hawkeye and Mustang once more but both had declined, stating they would only be here for a night so there was no point.

"When will you be leaving for Rush Valley again, Winry?" Gracia asked as the eight of them sat down for dinner that night.

"Not for another three days. Some of my clients who live closer to Resembool have heard I'm home and have booked in for check-ups. I called Garfiel to make sure I could stay the extra days and he was fine with it," Winry told her as they helped themselves to the food in front of them.

"That was nice of him," Gracia commented and Winry nodded.

"He's a very good boss like that. Always willing to let me come home if I need to for my clients or go to whichever hospital Ed has landed himself in after destroying my automail _again_," Winry said scathingly as she glared t Ed, who was paying the food more attention than he was her.

"You're hilarious, Winry," Ed said drily as he pierced some vegetables with his fork and shoved them in his mouth.

"Don't start a fight, Brother," Al sighed and Ed glared at him.

"Tell that to the gear head over there," Ed grumbled. Winry gave him a withering glare that he was wholly unfazed by. The glare disappeared at the pleading look Al gave her.

"Do they always behave like this when the boys are here?" Hawkeye asked Pinako quietly.

"No," Pinako said with a huff. "Normally, they don't listen to Alphonse," she told her, going back to her dinner.

* * *

Thanks to Gracia's suggestion they all get themselves organised the night before, there was no last-minute running around for anyone in the morning. Everyone was up early so they would all have time to get ready and eat before they left to walk into town, though Ed and Elysia did so with some grumbling.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Pinako," Hawkeye said as they stood in front of the house with the two Rockbell women and Den watching them from the veranda. "We appreciate your willingness to allow us to stay with you for the last two days."

"Yes, thank you, Pinako. It was very kind of you to put us up like you did," Mustang said, standing at attention as he spoke to the elderly woman.

"You're both welcome," Pinako said. "It was no hassle having the two of you here."

"Thank you, Granny," Elysia said after a nudge and whisper from her mother.

"Thank you, Pinako. We truly appreciate you offering us your home while Ed and Al dealt with what was happening in Central," Gracia said after her daughter spoke.

"You're most welcome, the both of you," Pinako said with a smile. "I enjoyed having the both of you in my home and you're welcome back whenever you'd like, even if it's just for a visit when the boys come home," Pinako said sincerely.

"We might take you up on that," Gracia said and Pinako nodded.

"You boys stay safe, you hear? I don't want to see either of you back here covered in bandages," Granny warned, pointing her pipe at both of them.

"We'll do our best, Granny. Thank you for letting us stay," Alphonse said, clutching Elysia a little tighter to himself. He'd been delegated to carrying her for the walk into town since she was still a bit drowsy from the early morning and Ed's arm was still in a sling.

"See you later, Granny, Winry," Ed said with a wave as the group turned to leave.

"I better not see you for automail-related reasons until your next check-up, alchemy freak!" Winry called as they started down the drive. Ed didn't bother responding verbally; he just flipped her off as soon as he was out of throwing range as he walked away and smirked at her offended yell.

"_You should be nicer to her, you know,"_ Blue said and Ed snorted.

"_**If I started being nice to her, she'd think I was being held hostage or something. This is how we always are to each other,"**_ Ed told her mentally and felt all five Lions roll their eyes simultaneously.

"_What will you do after you get back to Central?" _Green asked and Ed sighed internally.

"_**Well, I need to call Major Armstrong when I'm on the train to let him know my ETA so he can pass the message along to his sister but I'm certain I won't be able to meet with her until tonight at the earliest because we have to go and report back to Grumman first and that could take a while,"**_ Ed told them, already dreading the conversation with Major Armstrong. He just hoped the older alchemist would remember that he can hear him perfectly fine over the phone so yelling wouldn't be necessary.

"What are you talking to the Lions about, Brother?" Al asked, drawing Ed's attention back to the road and the others.

"Just what the plans were for the rest of the day, nosey," Ed told him and Al stuck his tongue out at him.

Elysia was still being carried by Alphonse but she was looking far more alert and Ed knew it wouldn't be much longer before she was demanding to be put down so she could walk on her own feet. Ed glanced at their surroundings and noted they were already a third of the way to town and a look at his pocket watch told him they still had plenty of time. If he was really lucky, Ed would have time to grab a coffee for the train ride from the café. No one commented on the fact that Ed's pace sped up slightly but they matched him anyway, not minding getting into town a little quicker.

* * *

Edward was able to get his coffee like he wanted so he boarded the train happily with the others once the station announced they could. Elysia wasn't as keen for the train ride home but she settled into the compartment seat and curled up next to her mother with minimal fuss. Ed sat himself next to Gracia, leaving Alphonse to sit with Mustang and Hawkeye, though the younger Elric didn't seem to care all that much.

The train left the station right on schedule for a change, so Ed took it as a sign that there would be minimal delays and they'd get to Central roughly when they should. He decided to wait until they had left East City to call Armstrong though since it would be the only station Ed could guarantee a delay and Armstrong would be able to judge when his train would arrive far more accurately then.

There was minimal chatter in the compartment for the first half of the train ride. Elysia wanted to hop off at each station and look around, but Gracia and the others managed to convince her to wait until they reached East City where there was less chance of them straying too far from the station and missing the train when it left. When they finally pulled into East City station just before noon, everyone except Alphonse and Hawkeye chose to leave the train to stretch their legs a bit while Ed phoned Major Armstrong from a pay phone.

"_Major Armstrong's office, this is Lieutenant Ross." _

"Hey, Lieutenant, it's Ed," Edward said once she answered.

"_Edward! It's good to hear from you,"_ Maria said, sounding genuinely happy to hear from him. _"I take it you would like to speak to the major?" _She asked and Ed nodded before remembering they were speaking on the phone.

"Yes, please," he told her and he heard her hum for him to hold on a moment.

"_I'll put you through now, Edward. Have a safe journey back to Central and I'll see you when you're back,"_ Maria said and Ed heard the click that meant she'd transferred him before her could respond.

"_Hello, young Edward! How are you travelling?" _Armstrong boomed through the phone and Ed almost yelped at the volume of his voice.

"I'm fine, Major Armstrong. How's everything in Central?" Ed asked, trying to get his ears to stop ringing.

"_Everything is excellent here. Führer Grumman has ordered former Major Belmont to be moved to Central Prison once her stitches have been removed until her trial date is set or her injury is healed enough that Führer Grumman can trust it won't worsen when she is in prison, whichever comes first," _Armstrong reported and Ed wasn't surprised to hear it.

"Is she still claiming she shouldn't be under arrest for killing all those people and attacking the others?" Ed asked with some amusement in his voice as he watched Elysia lead Gracia and Mustang into a small bakery.

"_Yes, she is still suffering the delusion that General Mustang should pay for her crimes for the imagined slights she's suffered at his hand,"_ Armstrong confirmed and Ed snorted in disbelief. He didn't believe he'd meet someone more insane than Moore but Belmont was certainly a contender.

"Gotta love insane people," Ed said before a whistle caught his attention and he noticed the train was about to start boarding. "Listen, major, our train's about to leave. Can you let Lieutenant General Armstrong know I'll be in Central in a few hours but that I need to head to Grumman's office with Mustang as soon as we get back to the base?" Ed asked.

"_Of course, Edward,"_ Armstrong said. _"I'd be delighted to pass along your message to my beloved sister. I'm sure she'll be pleased that you'll be in Central promptly. I know she is most eager to hear the tales of yours and General Mustang's wondrous adventures!"_ Armstrong exclaimed loudly but this time Ed was prepared for it and held the receiver away from his ear.

"Thanks, Major. I'll see you in a few hours," Ed said, about to hang up the phone when he heard Armstrong ask something. "Sorry, I didn't catch that," Ed said apologetically.

"_That's quite alright, young Edward. I was merely asking whether you would like for me to book a car to meet you, General Mustang and the rest of your group at the station?" _Armstrong repeated and Ed made a surprised noise in the back of his throat. He hadn't even thought of that and, as far as he knew, neither had anyone else.

"That would be really great. Thanks, Major Armstrong," Ed said just as the piercing whistle blew once more, causing him to wince. He saw Gracia, Elysia and Mustang board the train, though Mustang hung back and was waving at him to hurry up and board. "Major, I have to go now. Just let General Armstrong know when I'll be in Central and thank you for offering to arrange the car," Ed said, rushing over his words.

"_It's no problem, young Edward. You best be going lest you miss the train. We shall see you in a few hours!" _Armstrong boomed. Ed shot off another quick goodbye before hanging up the phone and jogging lightly to where Mustang was still waiting, accepting the hand Mustang offered and letting the flame alchemist pull him into the car.

"Cutting it a bit close, Fullmetal," Mustang drawled and Ed rolled his eyes.

"I had plenty of time," he countered before rocking with the movements of the train as it left the station. Mustang raised an eyebrow and Ed scowled. "Well, I didn't miss it, did I? Therefore I had plenty of time," Ed stated stubbornly. This time, Mustang was the one to roll his eyes.

"What did Major Armstrong have to say?" Mustang asked as they walked to their private compartment.

"Just that Belmont will be transferred from the cells at Central Command to Central Prison once her stitches are out and that he's happy to pass along my ETA to General Armstrong," Ed told him. "Oh, and he's gonna schedule for a car to meet us at the station," Ed said, snapping his fingers as he remembered.

"That's nice of him," Mustang said, sliding open the compartment door.

"What was nice of who, Sir?" Hawkeye asked as soon as the door entered.

"Major Armstrong offered to have a car waiting for us at Central station," Mustang told her. Hawkeye simply nodded in acknowledgement as Mustang Ed took their seats.

"Here you go, big brother," Elysia said as she handed him a paper bag that held a pastry from the bakery Ed had seen them go into. "Here is yours, Uncle Roy," Elysia said as she handed Mustang a similar bag.

"Thanks, El. Thank you, Miss Gracia," Ed said as he tucked into the chocolate pastry.

"You're welcome, Ed," Gracia said as Elysia continued handing pastries out and Gracia was soon being thanked by the other three people in the compartment as Elysia joined her mother once more. "So, what else did Major Armstrong have to say?"

* * *

"Lieutenant-Colonel Elric!" Ed's head snapped in the direction of the voice that was barely loud enough to be heard over the hustle and bustle of Central station.

"Over there," Mustang pointed to a uniformed officer standing next to a military vehicle right outside the front entrance and Ed finally managed a glimpse.

"Sergeant Browning!" Ed called back, waving to the other man so he'd know he'd seen the driver. "Come on, guys," Ed said, gesturing for them to follow him as he weaved his way through the crowd, keeping his grip on Elysia's hand so he wouldn't lose her in the crowd.

"It's good to see you again, Sir," Browning said as soon as Ed managed to make it all the way through the crowd to stand in front of the sergeant and they'd loaded any suitcases or bags the group was carrying into the boot.

"You too, Sergeant Browning," Ed said, grinning at the man before remembering there were people with him. "Uh, you've met Al and Captain Hawkeye. That's General Mustang there and I'm not sure if you remember Miss Gracia and Elysia Hughes," Ed introduced and Browning saluted to both Hawkeye and Mustang.

"It's a pleasure to see you all again and to meet you officially, General Mustang," Browning said, holding his salute until Mustang dismissed him.

"It's not that much of a pleasure once you know him," Ed muttered, loud enough for Mustang to hear and was rewarded with a scowl from the older man.

"Where are we heading, Fullmetal, Sir?" Browning asked and Ed glanced at Gracia, who nodded subtly.

"We'll head to the Hughes' residence first, if you don't mind, sergeant," Ed said.

"Of course not, Sir," Browning said as he opened the back-seat door and held it for everyone to climb in. Once they were all settled in the back of the car, Browning got behind the wheel and Ed gave him Gracia's address. "Thank you, Sir. We'll be there in no time," Browning assured them, pulling the car into traffic.

True to his word, Browning had them in front of Gracia's home sooner than they'd expected and they unloaded themselves from the car. Browning promised to wait for Ed, Al, Mustang and Hawkeye while they escorted the Hughes' into their home. Mustang placed Gracia and Elysia's suitcases on the floor in the living-room before joining the small group in the kitchen.

"You four had better head to Central Command before Führer Grumman decides to pay my home a visit to find you," Gracia said, shooing them towards the door.

"Alright, Miss Gracia. Al and I will be back sometime tonight, hopefully early. It depends on whether Lieutenant General Armstrong wants to talk to me tonight or tomorrow," Ed told her and Gracia nodded in understanding.

"Just call me if you're not going to be here for dinner, alright?" Gracia asked and Ed nodded. "Good. Now, you four need to go," Gracia said, smiling as she all but shoved them out her front door.

"We're going, we're going! We'll see you later. Bye, El!" Ed called out the same time as Alphonse did and the young girl waved at them.

"See you tonight, big brothers!" Elysia called back. "Bye, Uncle Roy! Bye, Miss Hawkeye!"

"Goodbye, Elysia," Hawkeye said, indulging her with a warm smile.

"I'll come 'round to say hello when I can next, okay, Elysia?" Mustang promised and Elysia grinned widely like he'd just given her the best present.

"Okay, Uncle Roy," she said happily.

"Let me know when you and the team want to come around for dinner," Gracia said and both Mustang and Hawkeye nodded.

"Will do," Mustang said before the four of them finally left Gracia's home and headed back to where Sergeant Browning was waiting in the car.

"To Central Command now, sirs, ma'am?" Browning asked as he opened the door once more for them.

"Yes, please, Sergeant Browning," Ed said, climbing in beside Alphonse.

"It always surprises me to hear you say 'please', Fullmetal, and not sound sarcastic or insubordinate when you do so," Mustang drawled and Ed glared at him.

"I only use my manners with people who deserve it, Mustang," Ed said haughtily, ignoring the laughter he could hear in his head from the Lions. While he appreciated them using their bond to keep him entertained during the train ride, he did _not_ appreciate them using it to laugh at him.

"Behave, gentlemen," Hawkeye warned as Browning manoeuvred the car into the street and headed for Central Command, "or I will make you," she added threateningly. Mustang and Ed heeded her warning thought not before Ed flipped Mustang off when Hawkeye glanced out the window.

* * *

"Major Armstrong!" Al called, having spotted the Strong Arm Alchemist in one of the corridors they were heading up to get to Grumman's office after Browning had gotten them to Central.

"Ah, young Alphonse! How marvellous it is to see you looking so well!" Armstrong boomed loudly enough that half of Central likely heard him. "And young Edward! I'm gladdened to see that Sergeant Browning managed to find the four of you so swiftly! General Mustang, Captain Hawkeye, it is a pleasure to see the two of you," Armstrong said, saluting them now that he was in front of them.

"It's good to see you as well, Major," Mustang said politely, dismissing him from the salute. "I trust your sister is doing well."

"She's healing splendidly! Though swift recovery is a trait that's been passed down the Armstrong family for generations so it's to be expected!" Armstrong reassured them loudly. "Speaking of my dearest elder sister, she has asked me to pass along a message to you, young Edward," Armstrong said and Ed nodded for him to continue. "She wishes for me to tell you that she would be honoured if you would be willing to meet her at our family manor tomorrow morning and join her for brunch. She also wishes for you to know that she would be delighted to have me arrange for our family chauffer to pick you up from your home, if you were so inclined."

"Thanks, Major Armstrong," Ed said, exchanging a glance with Al whose only reaction was to shrug and leave the decision up to him. "If your driver could pick me and Al up from Miss Gracia's, that would be handy. If it's too much of a hassle though, we can catch a taxi or something," Ed said.

"Nonsense!" Armstrong boomed once more. "I shall arrange for our driver to arrive at your home for nine o'clock, as per Olivier's request, if that's suitable?" Ed nodded, as did Al, and Armstrong clapped his hands together in delight. "Excellent! I shall make the arrangements! I don't wish to delay you any longer from your meeting with Führer Grumman so I shall bid you goodbye," Armstrong declared, saluting Mustang and Ed once more.

"Thank you, Major Armstrong," Mustang said, dismissing the salute immediately. "Enjoy the rest of your afternoon."

"You too, Sir," Armstrong said, voice barely above what would be considered acceptable inside a building before he strode on down the corridor, leaving them to continue their walk to the Führer's office.

"Somehow, I always manage to forget exactly how loud Major Armstrong can be," Alphonse commented as they rounded a corner and Ed snorted.

"So do I," Ed said, sharing a grin with his brother. "At least we know I'll be at Miss Gracia's for dinner now," Ed commented brightly. "Now we've just got the meeting with Grumman to get through. That should be all kinds of fun," Ed said, sounding only the slightest bit sarcastic.

"Lighten up, Fullmetal," Mustang ordered. "Besides, if you're lucky, we might run into two certain generals on our way," he said nonchalantly, almost forgetting himself and smiling when Ed's face lit up at the possibility.

"Oh, man, I really hope so," Ed said enthusiastically, eyes shining in a way that had always meant trouble for Mustang.

Al looked like Mustang had just signed Ed's death warrant. Hawkeye didn't look anymore impressed than Alphonse did. Mustang gave them both his most innocent look but, funnily enough, neither looked like they bought it. The flame alchemist just shook his head at them as they continued through the base. They certainly would be thanking him if they did get to witness Edward going up against the generals once more, if they did run into them today. At the very least, Ed was no longer complaining about being potentially bored as they made their way to Grumman's office so Mustang counted it as a win either way.

A/N - Third last chapter up and done! Can you believe that in two Sundays time this story will be finished? I almost can't! As always, many, many thanks to the frigging unbelievable PhoenixQueen for betaing this chapter and story so far! Also, many, many thanks to those wonderful people who have reviewed the story and last lot of chapters! Those comments have made my day and give me the motivation needed to continue writing my stories so thank you for that :) I'll see you all next week for the second last chapter!


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter Thirty-One**

"Hello, Miss Samantha," Ed and Al chorused as they entered the Führer's outer office. The Führer's secretary looked up, masking her jolt of surprise well and grinned at them broadly once she recognised them.

"Hello Edward, Alphonse. Good afternoon, General Mustang and Captain Hawkeye," she greeted, nodding politely in the direction of the two adults before focusing on the brothers again. "I take it your trip home went well?" she asked, noting the fact that none of the consultants were with them.

"Yeah, it was good. The consultants went back home and my mechanic got to yell at me so it was a good trip for practically everyone all around," Ed said flatly, causing Samantha to laugh at him.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Samantha said before turning her attention back to Mustang and Hawkeye. "Führer Grumman is in a meeting at the moment. He shouldn't be much more than ten minutes. If you wish to wait, you're more than welcome too," Samantha said, gesturing to the comfortable couches across the room.

"Who's he meeting with?" Ed asked, trying not to seem too eager but Samantha gave him a knowing look.

"Not General Widdon or General Combes, if that's what you're wondering, young man," Samantha said and Ed grinned sheepishly. "He's meeting with the lawyer assigned to former Major Belmont's case so that he can authorise the release of Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' case files. The lawyer needs a chance to look through the files and build a defence since she hasn't entered a guilty plea," she explained and Ed sighed in disappointment.

"That sounds really boring," Ed said before giving Samantha a smile. "We'll just wait on the couches until His Excellency can see us. Thanks, Miss Samantha." Samantha nodded, giving Ed a smile. She was about to respond, only to be interrupted by her desk phone ringing. She gave Ed an apologetic look before picking it up to answer and Ed took that as his cue to join the others on the couches.

Rather than sitting down and staring at a wall while Grumman finished up his meeting, Ed raided the bookshelves in the office, grabbed two books that looked interesting enough to keep him and Al entertained for a while and tossed one at his brother, though he was nice enough to warn him the moment before he did so. Al glared at him but accepted the book, flipped it open and started reading.

"_How's everything going?"_ Black asked, interrupting Ed's reading but he didn't mind.

"_**Just waiting to talk to Grumman. What about you guys?"**_ Ed asked, still looking at the page he had been reading but not taking in any of the words.

"_Everything's pretty boring here. We've been escorting the last of the aliens we freed home and, aside from the mission we undertook while you were helping Mustang, we haven't had to form Voltron at all. We haven't even faced any kind of resistance,"_ Red told him, sounding almost annoyed at the like of violence and Ed snickered at her. _"You get bored when you haven't fought at least one person a week so don't you get all judgmental,"_ Red growled and Ed couldn't come up with a good point to argue back with so he gave Red the win. He didn't think warranted as much smugness as Red was sending through the bond when she realised he wasn't going to reply, though.

The door to the Führer's inner officer opened at that moment and a lanky man who looked barely older than Ed himself walked out of the office. He looked a little like he couldn't believe he was walking out of a meeting with the Führer and like he was just now realising how big this case was. He exchanged a quick word with Samantha before heading for the outer office doors at a pace that suggested he was trying to stop himself from running.

"Do you recognise him?" Ed whispered to Mustang who made a contemplative hum before answering.

"No, I don't think so. He doesn't look like he's long been certified so my guess is he's a court-appointed defence attorney. I hope for his sake this isn't his first case," Mustang whispered back, a touch of sympathy in his voice for the young lawyer.

"Yeah, imagine cutting your teeth on something like this," Ed said, relaxing back in his chair, intending to get back to the book he had chosen.

"General Mustang? Edward?" Samantha called and their attention snapped back to her quickly enough to see her set down the phone they hadn't even noticed she'd been on. "You all may enter the Führer's office now," Samantha said, getting smoothly to her feet as the four of them got to theirs.

Once they joined her where she stood in front of the inner doors, she turned and knocked primly on the door. "Enter," a voice called from inside and Samantha opened the doors for them, standing to the side so they could pass her.

"Brigadier General Mustang, Lieutenant Colonel Elric, Captain Hawkeye and Alphonse Elric here to see you, Your Excellency," Samantha announced as they strode through the doors. The four saluted but Grumman waved them out of it.

"Thank you, Samantha. You may go," Grumman said as he stood and moved around his desk. Samantha nodded and closed the door behind her. Once she was gone, Grumman spoke again. "I trust your visit to Resembool was successful?"

"Yes, Sir. The agents have gone back to their home country," Mustang reported and Grumman nodded.

"I wish we could've had them stay longer. It would've been interesting to see what they could've taught our Investigations department," Grumman said, gesturing for them to sit before he moved back to his chair and took a seat himself. "How did they get home?" Grumman asked and Mustang and Ed glanced at each other.

"Fullmetal and I used the array that would get us to Truth's dimension," Mustang worded carefully, just in case. "We paid the toll for the agents and they were sent home, Sir." Grumman looked a little upset and unsettled at the fact that Mustang and Ed had paid tolls.

"What toll did you have to pay and why? I was under the impression their trip would be free," Grumman said and Ed couldn't stop the snort he made.

"Yeah, we thought that too but Truth managed to take advantage of a loophole it had created," Ed told him. "It told the agents _they _wouldn't have to pay a toll. It didn't say that a toll wouldn't be paid at all," Ed said. "Since the agents couldn't use alchemy to activate the array they needed, Truth exploited the fact that they would have to rely on us. Since Mustang and I were the ones who activated the array, we paid the toll," Ed explained.

"Our toll, Sir," Mustang said before Grumman could ask again, "was that Fullmetal and I owe Truth a favour each. It can collect at any time and with no warning, like it did the first time we met the agents. It also took the knowledge I gained from my forced trip through the Gate. I can no longer perform alchemy simply by clapping as Fullmetal and Alphonse can," he reported and Grumman sighed.

"So, at the very least, I can expect each of you disappear at least once more at any given time?" Grumman asked and both Mustang and Ed nodded. Grumman sighed once more before leaning forward and resting his forearms on his desk. "Very well then. I'll start preparing cover stories for when that happens so we're prepared when the need arises," Grumman said, not looking overly enthusiastic about it.

"Thank you, Sir," Mustang said.

"Thanks, Grumman," Ed said after a prompting glare from both his brother and his commanding officer.

"You're welcome," Grumman said with a half-smile. "Is there anything else you need to report?" He asked and all of them shook their heads. "Okay. Edward, Alphonse, I would like to speak with Mustang and Riza privately, please," Grumman said and Ed was out of his seat before he'd managed to finish his sentence.

"No problem, Grumman. We'll head down to Mustang's office and see if Havoc managed to blow it up yet," Ed said, saluting Grumman. Alphonse followed his lead and the Führer dismissed the salutes quickly.

"I trust he hasn't as I've heard no reports of such a thing occurring in the last three days but that certainly sounds like a good idea. I'll see you boys later. Have a good afternoon," Grumman said.

"Thanks, Grumman," Ed said as he and Al moved to the door.

"Have a good afternoon, Führer Grumman, Sir," Alphonse bade him. A nod from Grumman had both boys leaving the room, the doors being pulled shut behind them.

"Do you need me to leave as well, Führer Grumman?" Hawkeye asked but Grumman shook his head.

"No, Riza. You may stay. What I have to tell Mustang will affect you as well," Grumman said. Mustang would never admit it out loud but that statement had him worried. "Don't look so worried," Grumman chided, smiling at the alchemist. Evidently, Mustang hadn't hidden his worry as well as he thought.

"Sorry, Sir," Mustang said, giving the older man a sheepish smile. "It's been...an unusual week, all things considered." Grumman waved the apology away with another smile. "What did you want to speak with us about?" Mustang asked and Grumman leaned forward a little in his chair.

"I'm sure you remembered what we spoke about before you left for your trip to Resembool," Grumman said. "I promised I would have an answer for you about who would fill Major General Andrews' position upon your return. I have conducted half a dozen interviews of candidates who possess enough of the necessary qualifications and experience that they were considered for the position. After deliberating over all candidates, I have made my decision and I thought you and Riza would like to hear it," Grumman informed them. Both Hawkeye and Mustang looked far more alert with that news.

"After careful consideration, I have decided to offer you the position, Brigadier General Mustang," Grumman said. "If you choose to accept the role, you will assume all of his previous responsibilities and tasks as I'm sure you remember me telling you about the day you were reinstated. Of course, this will mean that you are the head of the State Alchemist program. Lieutenant Colonel Lambert was made aware of my decision this morning and has expressed no concerns about working under you, should you choose to accept this position," Grumman informed him.

Mustang nodded solemnly. He and Hawkeye had already discussed the ramifications of what this would mean for his goal of eventually becoming the Führer if he was offered the position. Being in charge of the State Alchemist program at this stage in his career would be a huge boost to his credentials when it came time for Grumman to retire and select a successor. He would also have the opportunity to change the public's perception of the State Alchemists for the better.

"As you are undoubtedly aware, a general is allowed to have more than one team under their control. However, if you feel your team is able to sufficiently deal with their current workload and take on the workload Lieutenant Colonel Lambert and her team deal with, you are within your rights to refuse command of Andrews' former team. If you do, I will be forced to disband his former team and assign them new positions." Mustang and Hawkeye looked at each other for a moment but Grumman wasn't finished.

"Normally, acceptance of a position of this magnitude would result in a new rank for the commanding officer and, if the commanding officer believes their team deserves it, a rank for those team members as well, providing I agree with the recommendation. However," Grumman said, halting anything Mustang was going to say, "I will not be promoting you or any of your team," he said apologetically. "This decision has nothing to do with the most recent events and everything to do with the fact that you were only promoted to Brigadier General not even three months ago. With you and your team having done nothing extraordinary that could've resulted in promotions being considered in the last three months, I cannot justify a promotion now." Grumman looked like he was going to apologise but Mustang stopped him.

"That sounds perfectly reasonable, Führer Grumman. To tell you the truth, I hadn't expected to receive a promotion even if I were offered the position," Mustang confided. Grumman looked a little relieved that Mustang wouldn't put a fuss up about the promotion, unlike some other officers Grumman knew. "As for the matter of Major General Andrews' team, Captain Hawkeye and I discussed the possibility of me being offered this position and whether I would accept command of his former team after you mentioned I was being considered for it," Mustang explained. "I had already come to the decision that, should I be offered Andrews' position, I would want to have Lieutenant Colonel Lambert and her team join my staff. Now that I have been offered the position, my decision hasn't changed. I know Lieutenant Colonel Lambert well enough to know that she and her team have always been excellent at the work assigned to them by Andrews, and I don't expect that to change just because of a change in leadership." Grumman looked relieved and Mustang could empathise. No one wanted to be the one to tell a team as tight knit as Andrews' that they would be separated and have to reassign them to another team or department entirely.

"You're accepting the position and control of Andrews' team?" Grumman asked and Mustang nodded.

"Yes, Sir," Mustang said and Grumman grinned before pushing a small pile of paperwork towards him and chuckling when Mustang failed to stop the downward twitch of his lips entirely.

"Once you've signed these papers indicating your understanding of what the role requires and your acceptance of both the role and command of the team members listed within the paperwork, you'll officially be awarded Major General Andrews' position," Grumman told him, not bothering to hide the amusement he felt when Mustang accepted the paperwork with minimal enthusiasm. "There is also some paperwork for an office transfer. However, I'm unsure whether either your current office or the office Major General Andrews had been occupying would be big enough for both teams," Grumman said and Mustang looked up from the paper he was reading.

"If I may, sirs, I believe I have a solution," Hawkeye said and Grumman nodded for her to continue. "When Lieutenant Colonel Elric first introduced our team to the foreign agents, he mentioned that you had given them permission to use the empty office next to ours if they needed it, Führer Grumman," Hawkeye reminded him. "If both of you are agreeable with the arrangement, my suggestion would be to reassign Lieutenant Colonel Lambert and the other members of Major General Andrews' team to that office. They would be able to access our office easily enough and I'm sure Lieutenant Colonel Elric or his brother could be persuaded to alchemise a set of doors in between the offices for even easier access." Both Mustang and Grumman looked impressed with her idea and Grumman finally nodded.

"That's an excellent idea. Mustang?" Grumman asked, seeking his opinion.

"I have no complaints. I believe it to be a perfect solution to the problem of size," Mustang said in agreement.

"Wonderful. I'll have the paperwork sent to your office for you to complete tomorrow," Grumman told him and Mustang bit back the sigh at having more paperwork to do. He'd been about to return to the paperwork he'd been given when Grumman spoke again. "I've asked Lieutenant Colonel Lambert and her fellow team members to finish their work for today in the office they're in. I'll have Samantha call them once you've left and request that they start packing their office and Major General Andrews' belongings. They'll report to you in the morning and I'll issue an announcement to all departments that any paperwork that would've gone to them is to be sent to you. I'll officially announce your new position tomorrow morning, as well," Grumman informed him.

"I believe that will be an excellent arrangement, sir," Mustang said. "Once they've gotten settled in their new office, I'll ask Lieutenant Colonel Lambert to pack up General Andrews' personal belongings and she and I can deliver them to his family personally."

"An excellent suggestion," Grumman said. "In fact, while you're finishing up your paperwork, I'll go talk to Samantha and ask her to notify Lieutenant Colonel Lambert of your acceptance and begin the preparations for the office transfer," Grumman told them, giving the paperwork in front of Mustang a significant look as he got to his feet.

"I'll see that he has it completed by the time you come back, Sir," Hawkeye said, giving Grumman a salute that he immediately dismissed.

"I'm sure you will," Grumman said with a smile that threatened to turn into a grin at Mustang's slightly alarmed expression as he turned back to the paperwork. Grumman shook his head at the two of them as he stepped outside of his inner office and greeted his secretary.

* * *

An hour later, Mustang and Hawkeye walked through the front door of their office to find the team laughing along with Edward and Alphonse, who were occupying two of the spare chairs. Edward had his feet up on the desk in front of him and was rocking his chair onto its two back legs, looking completely relaxed, while Alphonse was sitting in a far more civilised manner; he was leaning forward and resting his weight on his forearms that, in turn, were resting on the surface of the desk in front of him.

"Glad to see my team so hard at work in my absence," Mustang drawled as he entered.

"Hey, bossman!" Havoc greeted, seemingly unconcerned about Mustang's comment. "We've finished all of our work for today and the chief was entertaining us with stories of your mini-vacation," he told him.

"_Your_ paperwork is waiting for you in your office, General Mustang," Breda told him, grinning when Edward tried to stifle his amusement when Mustang's face dropped.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Breda," Mustang said, looking at his door with a sense of foreboding before he seemed to remember something. "Actually, before I get started on what should surely be _riveting_ paperwork there is something I need to tell all of you as this news will affect the entire team. That includes you, Alphonse," Mustang said, moving to stand so he was next to Hawkeye's desk. Hawkeye herself moved to sit in her desk while the others exchanged curious murmurs.

"This has something to do with Andrews' job, doesn't it?" Ed guessed and Mustang nodded in confirmation.

"Yes. I have officially been offered his position and I have accepted it. Beginning tomorrow, I will be the head of the State Alchemist program. My new duties will also begin tomorrow morning, as will my command of General Andrews' team," Mustang informed them and was rewarded with the surprised and shocked expressions from all except Hawkeye that he'd expected.

"Are we moving offices, Sir? There's no way two teams will fit inside this office," Fuery asked, pointing out the obvious.

"No, we won't be moving offices. Captain Hawkeye suggested that we utilise the empty office next door and turn it into a secondary office for Lieutenant Colonel Lambert and her team members to use and Führer Grumman agreed," Mustang told him and saw the relief roll through his team and nodded in understanding. They'd only just settled into this office after the move his promotion had offered three months ago and would understandably be upset at the idea of having to do it all over again so soon.

"What does this mean for us? Will the two teams be sharing responsibilities?" Falman asked and Mustang shook his head.

"No," Mustang said. "I'll be keeping your responsibilities the same. Just as Captain Hawkeye is my second-in-command for this team, Lieutenant Colonel Lambert will be my second for her team. They will be continuing their day-to-day duties just as this team will continue theirs. The only time I expect for there to be any duty-sharing is if we were assigned a field mission and I believed some of the new team to be suitable for it," Mustang told them and they nodded in understanding. "The only changes I expect to be made to our routine are that some members of the new team may periodically be entering the office to speak with me or possibly one of you and to have an increase in paperwork delivered here for us to sort through." The group seemed to accept this readily and Mustang wondered if there was a way to segue into the next lot of news he had to tell them or if he should just rip the bandage off and prepare himself for Edward's (likely violent) reaction.

"I apologise, General, but I'm not certain I see how this news really affects me as well," Alphonse said, wincing in apology and Mustang silently thanked him for giving him a way to bring the subject up.

"Yes, there is another announcement I need to make and it's the one that involves you," Mustang said, giving Al a nod before turning his attention to the team as a whole once more. "Since I will now be responsible for two teams and an entire branch of the military, I will no longer be able to lead field missions unless there would happen to be an explicit reason that requires my physical involvement. What this means is that I will need someone to become the field commander on the occasions where either team is sent out for a mission. This person would be responsible for the team and the completion of the mission," Mustang could see that Edward was catching on to who he was implying. The look the blond was giving him did not bode well for his future but he continued nonetheless, "and I have decided the person best suitable for that job is Fullmetal."

"I hate you so much. I should've done worse to your office," Edward snarled as the rest of the team tried valiantly to hide their amusement at the blonde's outraged expression. "It wasn't enough for you to hang on to the damned paperwork to make me a Lieutenant Colonel, but now you're trying to chain me to a damned desk and saddle me with administrative duties?! I should have left you to rot in that cell!"

"Brother, it's not that bad," Al tried to soothe his brother's temper. "You won't be in charge of them all the time and you know how rare it is for the whole team to go out on the same mission," Al pointed out.

"I'm gonna get you back for this," Edward vowed, staring at Mustang. "You won't know when or how or where I'll get you but it will happen."

"Stop being dramatic, Fullmetal," Mustang said, rolling his eyes. He didn't mind the threats or the fact that Ed never broke a promise; he was just glad there was no physical attack. Having dealt with one brother, he turned to the other. "Now, from what I remember you telling me, Alphonse; Fullmetal made you his personal aide when Combes threatened to kick you off the base?" Mustang asked and Al nodded.

"Yes, he did. Oh!" Al exclaimed, turning to his brother, "that reminds me; I quit." Ed rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm firing you, remember?" Ed said, ribbing Al gently. Alphonse shook his head vehemently and opened his mouth but Hawkeye interrupted him before he could say anything.

"Boys, that's enough. Alphonse, you don't need to quit, and Edward, you shouldn't fire your brother."

"Huh?" Both brothers stopped their squabble and redirected their attention to Mustang and Hawkeye.

"Alphonse, although you're not old enough to officially join the military – unless of course, you intend to apply for and take the State Alchemist's exam – you are old enough to work as a civilian assistant," Hawkeye explained.

Edward looked like he was about to protest. After all, he was still Alphonse's legal guardian, and he'd been trying to keep Alphonse out of the military's control for almost seven years at this point. Yes, Alphonse was almost of age, but until he was eighteen, Edward was still his guardian.

"As loathe as I am to admit it, General Combes had a point when he said a civilian not contracted by the military is not allowed access to the files Alphonse regularly reads," Mustang said. "Führer Bradley permitted him to come along with you on all your missions, Fullmetal, because he wanted to keep the two of you together and under his thumb. I'm honestly surprised no one said anything after Bradley's death, though I suspect that was because of the fact that so much has been going on that no one wanted to interfere with the status quo any further," Mustang explained.

"In addition," Hawkeye added, "at your new rank, Edward, you're entitled to a personal assistant. It might as well be someone you trust implicitly, like your brother."

"I believe it would be in both your interests if Alphonse remains your personal aide, on paper at least. Unless, of course, he has decided he no longer wishes to accompany you on missions," Mustang said, "or unless he's decided that he wants to become a State Alchemist as well. We still need to refill our ranks after the devastation Scar and the Promised Day caused."

"Of course I still want to accompany Brother!" Alphonse said.

"I was sure you did," Mustang assured him, giving him a small smile. "If you remain as Fullmetal's personal aide, no one would be able to question your presence on missions or during briefings or debriefings and you wouldn't be at risk of another situation was narrowly avoided only because of Fullmetal's quick thinking." Al and Ed shared a glance and Ed shrugged his shoulder.

"It's up to you, Al," Ed told him. Al didn't seem pleased that Ed didn't want to weigh in on the decision but then again, Mustang would've been surprised if Al didn't already know Ed's thoughts on the matter.

"I'll stay on as Brother's personal aide, at least for now," Al decided. "We haven't discussed my becoming a State Alchemist, or what Brother is going to do once his contract is up for renewal yet." Mustang nodded.

"Wonderful. Now we won't have any problems regarding your presence during missions in the future," Mustang said, sounding a little relieved at that. There was silence in the room for a moment or two as Mustang seemed to be trying to remember if there was anything else he needed to talk with them about. "I believe that is all I needed to talk about. Fullmetal, Alphonse, I know the two of you have a meeting with General Armstrong and a check-up with your doctor tomorrow but I need the two of you to come by afterwards so you can meet General Andrews' former team." Edward sighed long-sufferingly and Mustang levelled him with an unimpressed look.

"Fine, if we have the time," Ed muttered in agreement. Mustang looked like he wanted to make it an order but a look from Hawkeye had him reconsider his actions.

"Alright," Mustang said, clapping his hands together. "I'm going to get what paperwork I have done so I'm not here late tonight or tomorrow night." Mustang headed for his inner office with Hawkeye's approving look following him. He didn't notice Ed and Al's eager anticipation building as he entered the office, nor did he see them spring to their feet the moment he was out of sight, the inner office door being left half-open.

"_What do you think his reaction will be?"_ Red asked, the effort she was putting behind not laughing completely evident in her voice.

"_**I think we'll find out in a few moments,"**_ Ed told her. The rest of Mustang's team was watching him with bemusement and amusement as the two brothers stood next to the outer office door, ready to run for it.

For a minute or so, there was nothing out of the ordinary and Ed and Al exchanged a look, wondering whether Mustang hadn't uncovered their prank yet or whether it somehow didn't work on him. Just before their disappointment could really settle in, they heard confused mutters coming from inside the office. Havoc and Breda, neither of whom knew what exactly Ed and Al had done – none of the team did – were frantically whispering bets to each other as the confused mutters turned into furious ones that increased in volume. When everyone heard what sounded like the drawers being ripped open violently, the boys opened the outer office door silently.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow," Ed said, voice bubbling slightly as his laughter refused to be contained when they heard the drawers slam shut again.

"Tell him to check his bookshelves, too," Alphonse said, voice equally as amused as Ed's. The frustrated searching grew even louder and Ed was certain the others had to have been able to hear the Lions laughing in his head, they were that loud.

"FULLMETAL!" Came the angry roar from inside the office and Al ripped open the door so they could leave.

"Bye, guys!" Ed called, not waiting for a response as he and Al raced down the corridor, their cackles ringing through the corridor and back into the office just in time for Mustang to hear it when he came back out of his inner office, fuming.

"Where'd he go?" Mustang demanded, glaring at those in his team who couldn't hide their amusement.

"I imagine they're heading back to Gracia's apartment, General Mustang. If you'd like, I can call her and leave a message for them from you, if it's not urgent," Hawkeye offered, voice as professional as it always was. Her offer didn't seem to calm Mustang down any. "What seems to be the problem, Sir?" she asked, picking up the phone, as if she was fully prepared to phone Gracia.

"That little shit rearranged everything in my drawers so now I don't know where anything is! He's destroyed my entire system and stolen other items!" Mustang snarled; his glare intense enough to burn a hole in the outer office door. The snorts Havoc and Breda gave were undignified but they got Mustang's attention away from the door.

"That does sound troublesome," Hawkeye said, no sympathy or empathy detectable in her voice. "Alphonse suggested you check your bookshelves before he and Edward left for the night, Sir."

Mustang groaned, muttering unflattering things about Edward as he turned back towards his inner office and Havoc, Breda and Fuery broke down into giggles as Breda passed money over to Havoc. Falman was hard-pressed to keep his face in its usual neutral expression and Hawkeye just rolled her eyes at their behaviour before getting back to her pile of accumulated paperwork.

The team listened to Mustang pulling books off their shelves and rifling through the pages. Havoc was actually impressed with how Mustang managed to make the actions sound so angry. Every now and then, there would be a small thud from inside the office that would be followed by a bitten curse from the flame alchemist.

Hawkeye seemed content to ignore the noises as she methodically worked through her paperwork and, despite having already finished their work for the day, the other members of the team unanimously decided to stay until the end of the work day rather than ask if they could knock off early, like they might've done if Mustang wasn't in such a foul mood. As the angry muttering continued inside of the inner office, each team member thought that maybe it would be for the best if the brothers _were_ too busy to swing by the office tomorrow.

* * *

"He was so mad!" Ed puffed, trying to laugh and breathe at the same time as he and Al slowed their pace down once they were a few corridors away. Ed was a little surprised that he hadn't felt his stitches in his calf or side rip as they ran before coming to the realisation that it was likely because he'd taken it so easy over the last few days since he was stitched up and his wounds had healed up enough that the small amount of running didn't affect them.

"I know!" Al giggled, nodding to a passing soldier who had a puzzled look on their face.

"_You do know it might be a good idea for you to avoid the office tomorrow. Maybe even the day after as well. Mustang did not sound very impressed with your prank,"_ Black said flatly as Red and the other Lions laughed.

"_It was a good idea though. You'll have to remember to thank Lance, Pidge and Hunk for suggesting it when they wake up,"_ Blue reminded them and Ed nodded, whispering the conversation to Al so he was in on it.

"Yes, I'm sure Brother will let me know when he talks to them next," Al said, knowing full-well the Lions could hear him.

"Course I will," Ed said, both to his little brother and the Lions. "Though, you guys are probably right about avoiding the office. I don't think Mustang will be leaving any time soon, not after the amount of effort we put into completely screwing up his system. It was an excellent idea to hide some of his things in his bookshelf," Ed praised all of them and was rewarded with feeling Yellow flush mentally and seeing Al's cheeks turn pink. It had been a collaborative effort between Hunk, Yellow and Al to hide several of Mustang's office items behind the books and within the pages themselves.

They nodded to the guards stationed at the front gates and turned in the direction they needed to go to get back to Gracia's house. They spent the walk discussing when they thought how long they'd need to wait before returning the office to ensure their continued survival. Ed and Al only stopped once on the way to their destination and that was at the bakery Gracia and Elysia seemed to enjoy most to pick up some after-dinner treats for them all. Once they were bought, the two boys left the bakery and continued back up the street, still chatting to each other and the Lions as they walked.

"We're back!" Ed called as they opened the front door to Gracia's apartment. The first thing they heard was Elysia's squeal of excitement, soon followed by Gracia's warm greeting coming from somewhere further back in the apartment. The two boys managed to toe their boots off just before Elysia crashed into Ed's legs.

"Welcome home, big brothers!" Elysia greeted, looking up from where she was wrapped around Ed's thighs when Ed ruffled her hair gently.

"Hey, El. You do remember you saw us a couple of hours ago, right?" Ed asked teasingly as she released him and latched onto Alphonse, who returned the hug with enthusiasm.

"I know but I missed you!" Elysia told him as if it should've been obvious.

"We missed you too, Elysia," Al told her reassuringly as he detangled himself from her tight grip. "What did you and your mum get up to once we left?" He asked as the three of them headed further into the house.

"Mummy has been doing some cleaning. She found a note on the table from her friend, Karen, so she phoned her," Elysia reported dutifully before scrunching up her face as she tried to think about what else had happened in the few hours they'd been gone. "Oh! I unpacked my suitcase and sorted through all of the drawings I did for you and Uncle Roy and all of Uncle Roy's friends while I was at Granny Pinako's," Elysia told them excitedly.

They had, of course, already seen all of the drawings Elysia had done for them but she hadn't given the drawings to them because she had wanted to give them to everyone at the same time, which meant she'd be doing so when they got together for the celebratory dinner Gracia had promised.

"Did you behave yourself for your mum today?" Al asked and Elysia nodded vehemently that she had.

"She did. She was very helpful today," Gracia said, startling the three of them as they hadn't heard her approach. She gave them a knowing smile when they tried to cover up their shock.

"Hey, Miss Gracia," Al greeted before holding up the bakery treats they had bought. "We grabbed these to have after dinner," he explained and both Hughes' smiled, Elysia with far more enthusiasm than Gracia.

"Thank you both. That was very sweet of you," Gracia said, accepting the bags and placing them in the fridge.

"It was no problem, Miss Gracia," Ed assured her before looking around the kitchen. "Did you want a hand with anything?" Gracia thought for a moment before answering.

"I wouldn't mind a hand with dinner but that won't be for a couple more hours yet," Gracia told them. "I'm sure the three of you can find something to entertain yourselves with until then," she said, grinning when Elysia immediately tried dragging them down the hall to her room.

"You can play with me!" She squealed, doubling her efforts though they still weren't moving fast enough for her, if her groans of frustration and grunts of exertion were anything to go by.

"Oh, I'm assuming since you're here now that you'll be here for dinner?" Gracia asked, wanting to be certain and both boys nodded.

"Yeah, Lieutenant General Armstrong wants to talk to Brother in the morning so someone will pick us up at nine o'clock," Alphonse told her and Ed snapped his fingers.

"Don't let me forget my tablet in the morning. I think I might need it so she'll truly believe I went to space and have the Lions in my head still," Ed said and Alphonse nodded, though he rolled his eyes at him.

"Then you'll be going straight to the hospital after that to have your injuries checked, yes?" Gracia asked though something in her tone told them she'd be forcing them to go if their answer was 'no'.

"Yup," Ed said, sounding as enthusiastic as he always did when it came to going to the hospital.

"So I shouldn't expect the two of you for lunch tomorrow?" Gracia asked, not bothering to try and get Ed to see the check-up was in his best interest. Both she and Alphonse had lost too many hours of their lives trying to do that and getting nowhere.

"No, probably not. We'll likely be at General Armstrong's for a few hours and we can grab something on our way to the hospital if we need too," Ed told her. Elysia looked a little put out but Gracia just nodded.

"Well, since we weren't sure how long we would be in Resembool, Elysia and I will be at home for the rest of the week, though I think that it's for the best. It'll give everything more of a chance to calm down and for me to pay Elysia's school a visit so we can discuss the way she was treated," Gracia said, sounding pleasant enough but the boys saw the way her jaw clenched and her fists tightened slightly before relaxing again. "I would really appreciate it if one of you would be able to look after Elysia for me while I'm doing that," she said, turning slightly pleading eyes on them that weren't necessary.

"Of course, we will, Miss Gracia," Ed told her happily. Elysia beamed when Al nodded his agreement. "Obviously, we can't tomorrow but maybe the day after? It'll give us a good excuse to not go into the office," Ed said, looking at Al with a grin on his face.

"Oh? What did you do?" Gracia asked, recognising the look on their faces and both boys shrugged.

"Nothing that Mustang didn't deserve," Ed promised. Gracia opened her mouth slightly, obviously about to ask before closing it decidedly.

"I imagine I'll hear all about it when we have that dinner," she said instead. "Did you get a day from everyone?" Both boys gave her a guilty grin.

"We may have forgotten once Mustang went into his office and we needed to run so he couldn't snap at us when he discovered what we did," Ed told her.

"But we should be going in tomorrow, assuming the meeting with General Armstrong and our check-ups don't take too long, so we can ask then," Al said before she could say anything.

"Alright," Gracia said before shooing the three of them out of her kitchen. "I need to finish cleaning and Elysia wants to play. I'll come and find you when I need some help," Gracia promised when it looked like they might be about to say something about that.

"Okay, Miss Gracia," Ed said before turning to Elysia. "You gonna lead the way, missy?" he asked, a teasing note in his tone and Elysia nodded before grabbing both him and Alphonse once more and tugging.

"Come on, big brothers! Let's play!" She squealed as she led them to her room.

"You heard the boss," Gracia grinned as Ed and Al laughed at Elysia's antics and watched as the three of them disappeared down the hall, shaking her head as she heard Elysia's plans for the game she wanted to play. She knew her daughter would take pity on Edward because of his injuries but the same couldn't be said for Alphonse, despite the stitches in his scalp. She sighed as she started digging through her freezer for something to defrost for the four of them to have for dinner though her smile came back when she heard three distinct laughs float out from Elysia's room.

* * *

_The next morning..._

"Thank you for driving us, Sir," Alphonse said as he and Edward climbed out of the Armstrong family's car that had pulled up in front of the hospital. Edward voiced his own thanks and the stern-but-friendly chauffer gave them a nod.

"It was my pleasure, Lieutenant Colonel Elric, Mr. Elric," the chauffer – James – said with a professional tone as he shut the car door behind them. Edward suppressed the urge to snap about the use of his military rank but he'd learned from Catherine, the youngest Armstrong child, that James would not be swayed into calling them anything but their earned titles when she'd overheard Ed ask him to do so the first time.

"Have a good day," Ed said as James slid smoothly behind the wheel and pulled his door shut.

"The same to you, young sirs," James said, dipping his head once more before driving away from the hospital.

"Remind me that I shouldn't mention any future inter-dimensional travels around General Armstrong," Ed ordered the moment he was certain James wouldn't overhear them. Alphonse would've laughed if he hadn't been at the meeting with his brother and witnessed the gruelling interrogation she had put his brother through.

"She was simply intrigued by everything. How often do you hear about someone going to another dimension even once?" Al said, trying to defend General Armstrong.

"That's not the point! I didn't even know someone could have that many questions about any kind of subject!" Ed exclaimed, throwing his automail arm up in an exasperated manner. "And you lot need to zip it," he nearly snarled at the Lions who were giggling in his head. Al tried to smother his own laughter but was ultimately unsuccessful and found himself on the end of one of Ed's glares.

"At least she believed you far more quickly than anyone else," Al said, trying to be optimistic and Ed's tense frame relaxed slightly.

"Yeah, I suppose so. Though the tablet was probably the reason for that," Ed said, subconsciously tapping his secret, reinforced inner jacket pocket that contained his tablet.

Olivier Armstrong had been hospitable enough to provide them food prepared by the family chefs but that was as far as her hospitality had extended. She'd demanded Ed start from the very beginning, meaning his first deal with Truth, before questioning every tiny thing she could as he recounted his stories for her. From the kinds of buildings America had to the kinds of weapons the agents wielded, the different kinds of foods Ed had tried and the different investigative methods he'd witnessed, Armstrong had left nothing unquestioned.

When it had come to telling her about Voltron and the war between them and the alien race, the Galra, Armstrong had initially scoffed in disbelief and informed Ed that she had no time for his childish pranks and demanded he tell her the true story before she lost what little patience she had. That's when Ed had produced his tablet and the sight of the highly unusual device was enough to stun Armstrong into silence long enough for Ed to make it through the story to the point where he'd first met all of the Lions without the General interrupting with questions.

The tablet had proven invaluable once again as Ed showed Armstrong every photo, video and other files it contained. He'd shown her everything except the videos the Paladins had left for him so they could say goodbye. He'd shown no one those, with the only exception being Alphonse and Mustang and he'd only shown Mustang the videos at the behest of the Paladins since the videos technically contained messages for him as well. Though she acted like she wasn't intrigued, Ed and Al had both shared a knowing smirk when Ed had shown Armstrong the first few minutes of one of the numerous Disney films on the tablet and had seen Armstrong's features soften minutely before she got control over them.

"Edward Elric, you had better be here for a check-up and not because you've injured yourself again," a plump, middle-aged nurse said, threatening undertone to her voice as she glared at them from where she stood just outside the front doors.

"Hi, Nurse Darlie," Ed greeted, giving her his brightest, most innocent grin. "Doc Evans ordered me and Al back here today for a check-up," he told her. Her features softened but she didn't lose the suspicious glare, like she didn't fully believe him and Ed found that to be a little rude.

"Well, come along than. We shouldn't keep Doctor Evans waiting," Darlie said, gesturing for them to hurry up. They did as she said, dutifully following close behind her as she expertly weaved through the nurses, doctors, visitors and patients walking around the hospital. "Doctor Evans?" She called when they caught sight of the man, catching his attention just before he disappeared around a corner.

"Ah, glad to see the two of you didn't forget about this appointment," Evans said, looking at them pointedly.

"Just because we've forgotten once or twice, -"

"More like _you've_ forgotten ten or twenty times," Al muttered and Ed elbowed him in the ribs.

"- it doesn't mean we're gonna forget every time," Ed finished saying, acting as though Al's interruption hadn't happened.

"Sure," Evans drawled, completely unconvinced. Turning to Darlie, he said, "Take them to exam room three, please. I'll be there once I've checked on my last couple of patients."

"Yes, doctor," Darlie said before turning smartly on her heel and shooing the two boys back down the hallway.

A couple of minutes later, they were seated on the examination bed (Ed) and the chair the doctor normally occupied (Al) before being left to their own devices while Darlie got back to her duties. Ed and Al passed the twenty minutes it took for Evans to finish his rounds by talking to the Lions about what they and the Castle-ship occupants had planned for the day.

"Let's start with you, Alphonse," Evans said the moment he walked into the room and closed the door. "How are your injuries?"

"My ribs are still sore from being bruised but my knee doesn't hurt anymore. My head wound itches like crazy," Al reported, lifting his shirt at Evans' gesture. The doctor pressed on his ribs firmly and examined the fading bruises and healing scrapes and cuts before letting Al put his shirt back on.

"I'll have a look at that head wound of yours now," Evans said, leaning forward a bit into Al's space to see the stitches and wound better. "Looks like it has healed nicely. I'll remove them for you but try not to scratch at the wound until it's fully healed," Evans instructed sternly, waiting for Al to nod before he moved to find a pair of tweezers and thin-bladed scissors.

Once he'd found them, he turned back to Alphonse and glanced at Ed. "You can take off your jackets and pants. I'll check your injuries next," Evans told him and Ed did as he was told as Evans carefully cut and removed the stitches from Al's scalp. The older Elric wanted to chuckle at Al's expression, knowing the odd sensation of stitches being removed all too well but he managed to refrain from doing so.

"Thank you, Doctor Evans," Al said once Evans had removed the last stitch and placed it in the sterile dish to be thrown out once he was done.

"You're welcome, Alphonse. Remember; keep the wound clean and try not to scratch it until it's fully healed," Evans reminded him and Al nodded dutifully. "Your turn," Evans said, rounding on Ed, who was sitting on the bed once more, now dressed in just his tank top and boxers.

"Do your worst," Ed said and had the distinct pleasure of seeing Evans roll his eyes as he changed his gloves and grabbed clean instruments.

"I'll check your leg first so lay on your stomach please. Try not to jostle your abdomen wound while you do so," Evans said and Ed did as instructed. After a few moments of Evans poking the wound, he spoke. "I'm surprised. This wound has healed nicely. Does this mean you actually followed my instructions to stay out trouble this week?" Evans asked and Ed turned his head so the doctor could see his scowl.

"Brother has been very well-behaved," Al informed him, voice filled with laughter that broke through when Ed flipped him off without looking.

"These stitches can come out so long as you give the leg a couple more days to heal before you start running after criminals," Evans said and Ed groaned at the thought of waiting longer to go on a mission. "I'm sure you'll survive," Evans said with zero sympathy. Ed muttered something into his arms before nodding, giving Evans the go-ahead.

It took a minute but Evans finally got the last stitch out and placed it in the dish to be disposed of later. "You can sit up now," Evans told Ed, who swung himself into a sitting position almost before Evans finished speaking. "I'll look at your neck before I check your arm or abdomen, alright?" Evans asked.

"Sure, doc," Ed agreed easily. Evans was quick about taking the bandage off and Ed wondered if he'd figured out his recently acquired discomfort with his neck being touched. Perhaps Nurse Emma had told him after she'd dressed he wound originally.

"Tilt your head," Evans instructed. Once Ed did as he was told, Evans examined the wound carefully before nodding in satisfaction. "I don't believe we need to do anything more with this wound. Just keep it clean and try not to scratch it until it's healed." Ed nodded in acknowledgement and Evans gestured for his arm.

"So, what's the verdict on it, doc?" Ed asked once Evans finished examining both the gash and the bullet entrance and exit wounds.

"I'll take the stitches out of the cut but I'd prefer to leave the others in for a few more days, just to be certain," Evans told him.

"Do I still need the sling?" Ed asked, giving the discarded sling a glare where it lay under his jackets.

"So long as you don't do anything to rip the stitches out until your next check-up, you can leave the sling off," Evans said and Ed nodded in agreement. Al just rolled his eyes at his brother's eagerness to be rid of the sling. While Ed hadn't complained about it often, his opinion on it had been made overwhelmingly obvious by his behaviour.

Evans carefully snipped each stitch before pulling it out. Ed, having been through this procedure more often than most would expect, barely twitched. "Alright, let's take a look at your abdomen," Evans said once he finished with the removal of the stitches. "Lift your shirt," he instructed before examining Ed's ribs once the blond had done as he was told. Ed flinched involuntarily as Evans poked his broken ribs but Evans didn't look displeased when he finished his examination. "Another month or so and they'll be healed perfectly. Probably longer in your case since you tend to find trouble even when you're already injured," Evans said blandly and Ed rolled his eyes.

"I keep telling you; it's _not_ my fault criminals are idiots," Ed said as Evans carefully pulled the bandage covering the gash on the right side of his abdomen.

"I'm sure there's less dangerous ways for you subdue your targets," Evans said pointedly and Ed shrugged.

"Yeah, but there's no challenge in that," Ed informed him, grinning widely as both Evans and Al rolled their eyes in tandem.

"I'm happy with how this wound is healing as well," Evans told him, ignoring the comment Ed had made, choosing to get back to his job, "however, I'd like for you to keep the stitches in for a few more days." Evans paused as he thought something over. "In fact, why don't you come back in five days? I believe that by that stage, your bullet wound and abdomen wound will be healed enough to warrant the stitches being removed and I'd like to check your neck wound again," Evans said and Ed sighed before nodding.

"I suppose that means no missions until that check-up?" he asked, obviously already knowing the answer.

"Not unless they're strictly research or have no chance in resulting in a physical altercation," Evans told him and Ed groaned in annoyance.

"I'll make sure he follows your orders, Doctor Evans," Alphonse swore when Ed didn't immediately agree to follow what Evans had said.

"I was gonna agree!" Ed exclaimed defensively, looking cross when Al laughed at him. Even Evans seemed amused and Ed did not appreciate that either.

"You can get dressed, Edward," Evans told him and Ed flushed slightly as he realised he'd forgotten. "I'll be writing your commanding officer a note, explaining my instructions and to give him an expected time frame for when you can return to active duty," Evans told him as Ed dressed.

"Damn it, that means we _have_ to go visit the office now," Ed whined and Al didn't reprimand him for his tone because he didn't look too thrilled about the idea either. Evans was going to ask before deciding he didn't care.

"Just keep yourself out of any trouble that could have you wind back up in here," Evans said, knowing it would likely be asking too much.

"No promises, doc," Ed said, giving him a cheeky grin and Evans wondered if it was too late to get in on the hospital betting pool where the winner was the one who correctly guessed the amount of time that would pass before Ed was next admitted.

Although, considering the number of admissions the young alchemist had had already, he was certain that the pot had not only been won, but renewed multiple times over the last few years.

* * *

"Edward, Alphonse," Hawkeye blinked in surprise once the two teens entered the office, "we weren't expecting you in today." Ed and Al gave her a shrug and smile.

"We just got back from seeing the doctor and we have a note for General Mustang so we thought we might as well drop it off while we were out," Al explained and Hawkeye nodded.

"The general is in a meeting with General Brathwaite right now but I'd be happy to take the note and make sure he sees it," Hawkeye told them. Ed was happy enough that their confrontation with Mustang wouldn't be happening today and handed the note over. Hawkeye raised her brow at his obvious relief but decided to leave it. "I see you're out of your sling Edward, and your stitches have been removed, Alphonse," she nodded to the younger brother, who wasn't surprised in the slightest that Hawkeye had noticed that. "I take it your doctor is happy with how your injuries are healing?" Hawkeye asked and both boys nodded.

"Yes, I had my stitches removed and Brother had the stitches in his calf and the cut on his arm removed. Doctor Evans wants him to remain on medical leave for another five days. He said he'll advise General Mustang on his thoughts for when Brother can return to active duty than," Al informed her, ignoring Ed's eye roll at him.

"I could've told them myself, you know?" Ed asked before dismissing Al's unvoiced retort. "Is there anything we need to do before we leave?" Hawkeye contemplated his question before nodding slightly.

"Yes," she said, "the two of you can head to the office next door with Lieutenant Havoc and introduce yourself to our new co-workers." Havoc looked thrilled to be leaving the office, even for a small amount of time.

"Alright, well, we'll do that then go back to Miss Gracia's afterwards so we'll see you guys later," Ed said, moving to join Havoc at the front door where he was waiting when Al made an exclamation of realisation.

"Oh! Miss Gracia wants to know what day would suit everyone to come over for a celebratory dinner," Al told them and Ed found himself glad that Al had come along because he had forgotten all about that.

"I'll have to ask the general when he comes back but this coming weekend would be suitable for me," Hawkeye said before giving everyone else a pointed look.

"I can make it," Fuery said and Breda nodded in agreement.

"As can I," Falman told them and Havoc gave them a bright grin.

"You know I'll always clear my schedule for one of Gracia's home-cooked meals," he said and everyone who wasn't Hawkeye or Falman rolled their eyes.

"I'll call Gracia later tonight with General Mustang's answer," Hawkeye promised the boys.

"Okay, that would be great. Thanks, Miss Riza," Ed said with a smile. Hawkeye gave him a smile back, pairing it with a simple nod. "See you guys later," Ed said again, giving everyone a wave as Al did the same next to him.

"Bye, Ed. Bye, Al," the team chorused as Havoc led them out of the office, closing the door firmly shut behind them.

"So, anything we should know about the new team?" Ed asked as they made the short journey to the adjoining office. Havoc chuckled.

"No, they're good soldiers," Havoc assured him and Ed nodded. He hadn't met with Andrews an awful lot, never having needed to unless he happened to run into him in the corridor or accompanied Mustang on the rare occasion he was on the base when Mustang needed to see Andrews, which meant he hadn't actually interacted with Andrews' team beyond more than the expected polite hellos and goodbyes. Havoc knocked on the door and opened it when a woman called for them to enter.

"Good afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel Lambert," Havoc greeted. "I apologise for interrupting your unpacking and settling in but I'd like to formally introduce the two team members who were missing this morning." Lambert and the five other team members in the room looked up in interest and, upon recognising Edward, gave him friendly smiles.

"It's no problem, Lieutenant Havoc," Lambert assured him as she walked forward, hand out for Ed to take. "It's good seeing you again, Lieutenant Colonel Elric," she smiled warmly. "Congratulations on your promotion." Ed held back a groan that Lambert seemed to still hear as she had to hold back a grin of amusement.

"Thank you," he said, releasing her hand. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to until now but I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about General Andrews." Lambert's eyes misted slightly as she nodded.

"Thank you, Edward," Lambert said, using his name now that the initial greeting was out of the way. "Also, thank you for uncovering the real criminal. We're pleased that General Andrews can rest easy knowing the real killer is soon to be behind bars." Ed nodded as the five other members of Lambert's team expressed their own gratitude.

"It was team effort," Ed told them before grabbing Al and dragging him forward. "Anyway, I don't think any of you have met my little brother, Alphonse, yet," Ed said, hoping to move the topic off of Mustang and Andrews. No one called him out on it and they all focused on Alphonse.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I look forward to working with you in the future," Al said, giving them a genuine smile as he made eye contact with everyone.

"The pleasure is ours," Lambert said, extending her hand for Al. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Eloise Lambert but feel free to call me Lambert," she said before pulling her hand from Al's grip. "Allow me to introduce the rest of my team," she said before pointing to a man with cropped, brunette hair and a tanned complexion. "This is Captain Anthony Hurd."

"Pleased to meet you," the man said, nodding to them.

"First Lieutenant Ryan Greene," Lambert introduced the next team member, an extremely blond-haired man with a seemingly permanent smile. The man waved and the boys waved back. "Next to him is Second Lieutenant Amaya Mason." The only other woman in the room nodded, causing her long, vibrant red ponytail to bob slightly. "Over by the bookshelves is Sergeant Brian Valentin." The youngest team member – Ed thought he might've been around Fuery's age – smiled at them and they smiled back. "Last, but not least, is Warrant Officer Darren Simon," Lambert said, nodding to the final team member. The no-nonsense looking man nodded curtly in their direction.

"It's nice to meet you all," Alphonse said warmly, giving the room a big smile.

"You, as well," Lambert said, smiling before giving them an apologetic look. "I am sorry to ask but we are busy trying to get our new office organised before we're expected to get back to our duties in the morning. As much as I'd love to ask you to stay so everyone has the chance to get to know one another, we don't really have the time," Lambert said, voice asking them to understand.

"It's no problem, Lieutenant Colonel," Havoc assured her. "Captain Hawkeye has asked me to pass along a message from General Mustang." Lambert and the team all shifted a little where they stood or sat, giving Havoc their undivided attention. "He asks that you notify him of a night where all of you would be available to join our team for dinner so that our teams can get to know one another better," he told them and Lambert nodded. Ed wanted to ask Havoc whether Hawkeye was the one who actually came up with the idea but decided not to while he was in front of Lambert and her team.

"Once we've settled into our routine again, I'll inform General Mustang of a day that suits us and go from there," Lambert told him. "Please thank him for his generous offer." Havoc nodded his agreement to do so.

"We'll get out of your hair now and let you get back to sorting your new office out. Please remember that if you need some help, we'd be happy to provide it," Havoc said and Lambert nodded in thanks.

"We'll let you know if we do," Lambert said before giving Ed and Al her attention. "It was a pleasure to see you again, Edward, and to meet you, Alphonse. I look forward to working with the both of you," Lambert told them.

"So do we," Alphonse said before Ed could say anything. "Have a good afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel Lambert. The rest of you as well," he added.

"See you guys later," Ed said with a small wave. Mustang's newly appointed team said their own goodbyes and Al made sure the door closed behind them.

"They seemed really nice," Alphonse commented as they walked the short distance back to their original office doors.

"From the little interaction I've had with them, I've no reason to disagree with you," Ed said casually.

"Well, we'll soon see if you're both right," Havoc said as he came to a stop outside the outer office doors. "Have a good afternoon, you two. Try not to get in any trouble, chief." Ed rolled his eyes as Havoc chuckled.

"No promises," Ed said, echoing his response when Doctor Evans had asked the same thing of him. "By the way, how pissed is Mustang?" Ed asked and Havoc chuckled again, which did not give Alphonse or Edward any reason to think they would be safe from retribution in the near future.

"He came up with some creative insults that you would've been proud of, chief, but I think if you can find a reason to not be in his eyesight for the next couple of days, you should be safe," Havoc told them with an amused grin.

"Thanks for the warning," Ed said with a matching grin. "We'll see you later, Havoc."

"Bye, Lieutenant Havoc," Al said, giving him a small wave.

"See you two around," Havoc said with a nod. The brothers grinned at him before heading down the corridor. Havoc watched them leave before entering the office, now ready to get back to his work.

* * *

Führer Grumman watched as his clock steadily ticked towards the agreed upon time for his meeting with Generals Widdon and Combes. Unlike the previous few times, Grumman had set this meeting up between them rather than having the generals call Samantha and demand a meeting. A few minutes past the hour, a firm knock came at the door. "Enter," Grumman called and nodded to Samantha in greeting as she led the generals inside.

"Brigadier Generals Widdon and Combes are here for your meeting, Your Excellency," Samantha announced as Widdon and Combes walked to stand behind the chairs and saluted Grumman. He made them hold them as he responded to Samantha.

"Thank you. You may leave," he dismissed her. He waved the generals out of their salutes once the inner office doors were closed behind his secretary. "I have several other meetings to get to today so I'll be making this one as quick as possible." He saw Widdon and Combes exchange a worried glance.

"Of course, Führer Grumman. May I ask why you have asked us for this meeting?" Widdon stood at attention, as did Combes. Both generals seemed to sense that this meeting was not one they were typically pulled into.

"This meeting was called to discuss some occurrences that were brought to my attention during Lieutenant Colonel Elric's investigation into the crimes former Major Leah Belmont has been charged with," Grumman informed them and felt no small amount of pleasure when both generals seemed to pale slightly.

"Forgive me, Fuhrer Grumman, but if this is about how we acted upon hearing the news about Lieutenant-General Armstrong and her doctor's health plan for her –" Widdon started, obviously trying to divert Grumman's attention to behaviour they'd already been reprimanded for to try and avoid Grumman talking about the behaviour they hadn't been punished for yet.

"No, I have received calls and messages from Doctor Evans on behalf of himself and his staff and from retired Major General Armstrong on behalf of himself and his family that have told me how you followed through with my orders well enough for me to consider that matter dealt with," Grumman informed him.

"I apologise than, Your Excellency, because I'm not sure what other instances you could be referring too," Widdon told him, though the glance he and Combes exchanged and obviously thought Grumman wouldn't notice told a different story.

"I'm sure you don't," Grumman said coolly. "However, I am more than happy to help you jog your memory," Grumman informed them. "Let's start with the obvious issue of your blatant disregard for how the justice system in this country works under my rule and your disgusting agenda of trying to twist that justice system to your advantage so you could rid yourself of someone you saw as a personal enemy, even if it meant letting the real killer walk free and not getting justice for the victims." Grumman didn't exactly snarl but it was a close thing.

"Führer Grumman, according to all the evidence we had at the time, the only person it could've been was Brigadier General Mustang. We merely followed what the evidence told us," Widdon said, defending both of them.

"No, you elected to ignore any evidence that didn't support the theory that Mustang was innocent and focused completely on trying to find any scrap of evidence, no matter how circumstantial, that would prove Mustang's guilt in your minds," Grumman snapped. "You continually ignored the fact that Lieutenant Colonel Brookes was in charge of the investigation and you continually threw your rank around to take over the investigation, like you did when you initially tried to interview Lieutenant General Armstrong, so you could try and force the evidence or witnesses into pointing towards Mustang." Grumman paused for a moment to make sure he had complete control over his temper before continuing. "Not only did you do all of that but once it became apparent that General Mustang was likely to be released, you barged into my office, interrupting a meeting with Lieutenant-Colonel Elric and proceeded to maliciously slander his and his brother's names in one last-ditch attempt to keep General Mustang in jail for your personal reasons.""

"You signed the arrest warrant, Sir. You wouldn't have done that if you hadn't believed him guilty," Combes said, speaking for the first time since he entered the office.

"I signed the arrest warrant because the circumstantial evidence against Mustang was too much to ignore. That does not mean that I ever once thought him to be guilty," Grumman informed him coldly. "However, despite the fact that I think your actions were despicable, I cannot punish you for it as what you did was only immoral and unethical, not illegal. Having said that, I am sure you understand the social implication that your behaviour will have on you in the future. Since you were so forcefully telling everyone Mustang was guilty, no one will take you seriously when you accuse anyone – especially Mustang or the Fullmetal Alchemist – of any illegal activities and your standing amongst the military officers of every rank has dropped significantly." Neither Widdon nor Combes looked happy about having this pointed out.

"Sir, I must ask that if you only arranged this meeting to rub our failure in our faces that you show some mercy and allow us to leave. We are very well aware of the humiliation that awaits us," Widdon said, keeping his voice level and professional.

"No, it isn't, so you may _not_ leave," Grumman informed them, destroying any hope they had. "As I said, I cannot punish you for that behaviour, however, you may remember me mentioning that there were a couple of things brought to my attention and those are what this meeting is about."

"Sir, whatever we did, we apologise sincerely for our actions," Widdon tried saying, Combes muttering his own apology from where he stood next to his fellow general but Grumman had had enough.

"Be quiet," Grumman ordered snappishly and both Widdon and Combes closed their mouths, looking slightly stunned. It wasn't often that Grumman allowed himself to show his anger so obviously. "The first item we are going to discuss is the order you placed regarding Mustang's visitors while he was incarcerated the day you lost your case in front of the generals and Fullmetal." Grumman watched as Widdon and Combes started realising where he was going with this. "I remember specifically ordering that General Mustang was to be treated with the same rights and dignities all other prisoners were given. That includes having access to visitors unless he had proven to be a danger to any visitor. I know that he had never shown any aggression or other reason for there to be a ban placed which means you willingly and knowingly went against my orders to try and get some retribution for the fact that the meeting earlier that day hadn't gone your way," Grumman stated and both Widdon and Combes started looking far more worried.

"Your Excellency, we apologise. We can only claim that our distress at the decision the generals had made earlier that day had impaired our judgement and that we acted irrationally," Widdon said, obviously trying to salvage the situation.

"No, I'll agree that the decision made earlier that day would've disappointed you but the two of you are grown men, not toddlers, and I would've expected you to have handled the decision with far more poise than you obviously did," Grumman snapped. "What you did was planned. You had time between the decision being made to when you placed that call to give those orders to get over yourselves and instead you decided to act like spoiled seven-year-olds. I'm starting to notice a disturbing trend about the two of you when it comes to receiving news you don't want to hear," Grumman said coolly and felt a vindicated pleasure when both men flushed slightly.

"Because you wilfully disobeyed my direct orders in this matter, you will be disciplined accordingly," Grumman informed them, showing no emotion on his face. "I have decided not to strip either of you of your ranks, nor have I decided to demote you. The order you broke wasn't significant enough to warrant such actions," he saw them let out a breath of relief before continuing, "so your punishment is as follows: the both of you will be placed on forced leave with no pay, starting from tomorrow morning. The forced leave will last until the former Major Belmont's trial is concluded and her sentence has been handed down. Should the whole process last longer than a month, your forced leave will continue however you shall receive half the wage you would ordinarily make for the period it takes for the sentence to handed down after the first month." As expected, both men protested vehemently against his decision.

"Führer Grumman, I must protest!" Widdon exclaimed.

"This is bullshit. Just because Mustang is so obviously your favourite," Combes growled and Grumman levelled them with the most unimpressed expression he could muster.

"Would you prefer me to demote both of you back to your previous rank or dismiss you entirely from the military? Trust me, I won't face much resistance from the other officers if I do take either of those routes," Grumman snarled and their silence was better than a verbal answer. "That's what I thought," Grumman scoffed. "This decision isn't up for debate. The two of you went against my order with malicious intent and you will be facing disciplinary actions for that. There is nothing you can say or do that will get me to let you off the hook for your actions." Widdon and Combes glowered in anger as they realised Grumman was being completely serious and that this would be happening no matter what they did.

"The next thing is the spiteful and deliberate slandering of both Elric brothers I mentioned earlier," Grumman told them coolly. "You both barged into my office like you owned it then spat baseless accusations against both Elric brothers then against my granddaughter – none of whom had done anything that so much as bent a military rule or law during the whole investigation – in your pathetic and blatant attempt to keep an innocent man in jail just so you wouldn't have to worry about him anymore." Both generals looked appropriately fearful as Grumman waited a few moments, letting them stew. "For your actions regarding this manner the two of you will be making an extremely public statement in front of the press conference I have taking the liberty to arrange for the two of you tomorrow morning and the two of you will be apologising for the lies you tried to pander. I will then be announcing the reasons behind your forced leave as I did promise the public complete transparency."

"Sir, I really must protest this punishment! We've apologised –" Widdon just arguing while Combes looked like he was deciding between going into a rant or joining Widdon's protest.

"I know you've not offered Lieutenant-Colonel Elric an apology because he would have told me about you doing so. The same would've happened if you'd only apologised to his brother or Captain Hawkeye. Do not start trying to lie to me already," Grumman growled and the generals knew that there was no way they would be able to try and talk their way out of any punishment Grumman gave them.

"If that is all, Sir, then General Combes and I humbly ask to leave so we can prepare our offices for our absence," Widdon's voice wasn't as professional as he obviously wanted and Grumman could detect notes of anger and humiliation in his tone.

"No, there is one more thing I need to talk to you about, specifically you, General Widdon," Grumman said. "I believe a Miss Eleanor Turner is your secretary, yes?" Widdon looked startled at the question but nodded.

"Yes, she is. She's been in my employ for the past three years," Widdon told him, glancing at Combes who looked just as bewildered as Widdon was. Grumman nodded like he hadn't expected another answer.

"She has a sister – a Miss Deborah Turner – am I correct?" Once again, Widdon nodded but this time it was done much slower than before and Grumman knew that the general knew what he was about to ask. "One of the specialised consultants made me aware of this and I already have questioned and received confirmation from both sisters that the consultant was telling me the truth so I would appreciate your honesty when you answer my next question," Grumman told Widdon. "Have you been ordering Miss Eleanor Turner to call her sister, Miss Deborah Turner, a journalist for _The Amestrian Times_, and pass along classified or incorrect information for her sister to publish?"

"Yes, Your Excellency, I have been," Widdon ground out, having made the smart decision to tell the truth since Grumman obviously already knew the truth anyway.

"I'm sure you're aware that any information given to the press about open cases is to be given only by the lead investigator or whoever the lead investigator orders to do so," Grumman said and Widdon couldn't help but nod, despite it not being a question. "I'm also certain you're aware of the fact that you were _not_ the lead investigator for the investigation involving General Mustang which means you had no right to be passing information along to the press about an open case without Lieutenant Colonel Brookes' express permission." Again, this wasn't presented as a question but Widdon couldn't stop himself from nodding.

"I'm aware, Your Excellency," Widdon said with the air of someone who knew they were about to get into more trouble.

"Good. I would hate to have to waste my time explaining the most basic and well-known rules to the two of you," Grumman said shortly. "You'll discover when you return to your office that Miss Eleanor Turner is no longer under your employ. I've ordered two soldiers to inform her of the loss of her job and to escort her off the base once she has cleared her desk. They are undoubtedly doing as they were asked right this minute. I will be personally assigning a new secretary to your office and I will personally see that they learn every single regulation." Grumman could tell Widdon was practically chewing on his tongue to stop himself from lashing out at him.

"Upon your return from your forced leave, the two of you find yourselves under intense scrutiny for six months. Consider it a probationary period," Grumman said. "If any evidence comes to light of either of you engaging in illegal activities, or any activity unbecoming of officers of your rank during these six months, you will be dishonourably discharged and possibly placed court-martialled, depending on the severity of your violations," Grumman informed them bluntly and predictably, both generals bristled at this.

"Sir, there is no need for that kind of action to be taken! We've nothing to hide and we're certainly not going to repeat the mistakes we made while emotionally compromised," Widdon exclaimed, trying to appease Grumman enough that he would change his mind, at least when it came to the six-month probationary period.

"You lecture us about throwing our rank about then you turn around and do it yourself! This is a blatant abuse of your power and you know it," Combes spat. "You have no reason to place such ridiculous restrictions on us! This is just you trying to get us back for being brave enough to speak what everyone else had been thinking; Mustang was guilty!"

"I suggest you hold your tongue, General Combes, unless you wish to make this situation far more unpleasant for you than it already is." Grumman's tone told the general that it wouldn't be a smart move to try and push him further and the look on the Führer's face told Combes that he'd regret voicing what he'd opened his mouth to say.

"Now, I've already told you that none of this is up for debate. The two of you will speak to the public about the lies you tried to pass as truth about the Elric brothers and Captain Hawkeye before you'll go on unpaid forced leave for the period of one-month tomorrow morning. You will then be on half-paid forced leave once that month is over until former Major Belmont is sentenced. Once you are allowed to resume your duties, you will be placed on a six-month probationary period. Is this understood?" He stared at the generals until they both nodded reluctantly. He didn't bother revealing that the secretary he would hire for Widdon and Combes' current secretary would both be given orders from Grumman himself to report back to him every afternoon on what the generals had done for that day without telling the generals what they were doing.

"Perfectly, Your Excellency," Widdon said, voice emotionless as he accepted his fate.

"Crystal clear, Sir," Combes ground out, his humiliation written all over his face and in his voice. Grumman ignored both their tones and nodded once.

"Good. Then the only reason I should see you on the base until your forced leave is over is if I request your presence for a meeting," Grumman informed them. "Now that I've discussed everything I need to with the both of you, you can get out of my office. You will receive phone calls to let you know when you're allowed back on base and the time of the press conference. Dismissed." Grumman didn't make them hold their salutes for as long as he had when they'd entered earlier but he did make them hold them for longer than he ordinarily would have.

Once the salutes were waved away, both officers slunk out of his office, slamming the door shut behind them. Grumman walked back to sit behind his desk once more, shaking his head at the generals' attitudes. Truth be told, he was glad he wouldn't have to deal with them for the next month, at the very least. Sighing in relief, he picked up his phone and called Samantha to inform her he would be busy for the next ten or so minutes before hanging up on her and dialling the extension for Mustang's office. He figured both Mustang and Edward would like to know what had just happened, though he was positive there'd be some griping from Edward that he couldn't have been there in person. He grinned at the image that created as the phone rang before it clicked; indicating it had been picked up and he heard his granddaughter's voice on the other end.

* * *

_Three days after arriving back in Central…_

Mustang's team had arrived at Gracia's home right on time for them to help her set up the table so it would fit all of them, the two Elrics and the two Hughes'. Mustang himself arrived just as the work was finishing up, earning a glare from Hawkeye and Gracia and an eye roll and muttered comment about avoiding work from Edward. Mustang had sent him a glare before catching Elysia as she threw herself at him and handed over the bottle of wine he'd brought to Gracia.

"Thank you, Roy. This was very sweet of you," Gracia said as she accepted the bottle with a smile.

"Well, I figured you might need it after having dealt with Fullmetal for so long," Mustang said, earning an offended 'hey!' from the blond.

"Edward is absolutely no trouble at all. Far less than you when you and Maes used to come back here after a night out, that's for sure," Gracia informed him, causing Ed to cackle and Mustang to flush.

"Gracia!" Mustang whined as Ed continued laughing until he let out a grunt of pain when Alphonse hit him upside the head.

The blond stopped laughing but had started fighting with his brother instead, the younger Elric allowing himself to be caught up in the banter. Mustang had been about to separate them but Elysia wriggled out of his grip and bounded over to them to stop them herself. Mustang wondered if she could teach him how she did it because she'd barely said anything and both boys were behaving.

"Do you need a hand with anything, Gracia, or can I steal Fullmetal for a few moments?" Mustang asked. Ed shot him a suspicious look but Gracia shook her head.

"No, I have everything handled here," she told him. "I'm sure I can ask some of the others for help if I need it anyway," Gracia said, looking significantly in the direction of her lounge, where the majority of his team was currently sitting.

"We shouldn't be too long," Mustang said before giving Ed a pointed look. Ed rolled his eyes, grabbed Al's arm and hauled him down the hall behind him, heading for their bedroom. Mustang followed, jerking his head at Hawkeye in a silent request for her to come with. She fell into step behind him.

"Alright, what do you want?" Ed asked once Hawkeye had closed the bedroom door behind herself. Neither brother looked surprised that she was in the room with them and Mustang.

"Two things," Mustang told him. "Firstly, I would appreciate it if sometime during the next week either you or Alphonse pay the office a visit so you can alchemise a set of doors between the two outer offices for easier access between the two teams."

"I'm sure we can manage that, General Mustang," Alphonse said before Ed could tease Mustang about not being able to do it himself.

"What Al said," Ed grunted. "What was the second thing?" Ed asked, ignoring Al's eye roll.

"To discuss your training schedule," Mustang answered promptly. When Ed's face went blank, Mustang rolled his eyes. "For learning flame alchemy," he said and Ed's mouth opened in a silent 'oh'.

"Before you discuss that, I would like to know if you've done what I asked of you." Hawkeye asked, looking straight at Ed, who nodded.

"Yeah, Al agreed," Ed told her, Al nodding in agreement beside him and she nodded in satisfaction. At Ed's gesture, both Hawkeye and Mustang sat on Al's bed, since the boys had claimed Ed's bed.

"The first thing we need to do is create a pair of gloves for you, as well as a spare set," Mustang said before contemplating something. "Maybe something made out of a more durable material for if you need to create your automail blade while wearing them."

"I still have my two sets of spare gloves I created while on the Castle-ship," Ed said before getting up and rifling through one of his drawers and producing the black and red pair that he'd had no reason to wear since he hadn't managed to destroy his white pair yet. He handed them over to Mustang for his inspection.

"We can test them with the special ignition coating I use and see if it sticks to them. If it doesn't, we'll have to find another material," Mustang said, tossing the gloves back at Ed.

"Yeah, well, whatever material we use, I want the stitched array to be the same colour as the material," Ed said and Mustang raised an amused brow.

"Trying to show your fashion sense?" He teased and Ed rolled his eyes.

"Even if someone doesn't recognise the array, most people who know of you think 'flame alchemy' when they see an alchemist wearing a pair of gloves with a red array stitched onto it. On the off chance I ever have to use flame alchemy against someone who _does_ know what your array looks like, I want to make it a bit harder for them to figure out what I'm about to do. Not everyone can be as flashy as you, Mustang," Ed snarked.

"Back on subject, please," Hawkeye said warningly before Mustang could retort back. He did glare at Edward before smoothing his expression.

"Once we have your gloves sorted out, I'd like to start your training with you coming over to my house once a week. We won't be practising there – the yard is much too small until you've proven you have appropriate control over the transmutation – but I'm sure I'll be able to find a field or something similar that would be suitable for our purposes," Mustang said. "Of course, I am aware there will be times you'll be on missions for longer than a week but we'll work around that as best we can. Does that sound suitable?" He asked and Ed shrugged.

"Considering Teacher only gave us one day to rest when she was training us, I'm fine with it," he told him as Al rolled his eyes.

"We'll see how good your instinctive control is during the first few lessons. If you aren't making the progress I expect, we'll increase the amount of lessons we have," Mustang told him. Mustang gave Al an apologetic look before he went on speaking. "I can't allow Alphonse to be present during the lessons until you've learned the secrets of fire alchemy well enough that I don't have to remind you of them during lessons." Ed didn't look happy about that but Al was the first of them to speak.

"That's fine, General Mustang. I understand. I can help Miss Gracia around here while Brother is with you," Alphonse told him, sounding completely okay with being left out. Ed still didn't look happy but he didn't raise a fuss, knowing that Mustang wasn't being malicious by leaving Al out.

"If you're feeling up to it, we'll test your gloves tomorrow. I keep everything in my home so it won't take too long to find out if those gloves will absorb the coating properly," Mustang said and Ed nodded. "Drop by after lunch," Mustang instructed.

"Need your beauty sleep?" Ed teased.

"More like I need the time to prepare for you being in my home," Mustang snarked back.

"_Gentlemen,"_ Hawkeye warned, stopping their banter once more.

"_Shiro could do with some pointers on stopping people from arguing from her. I swear, Lance and Keith are only at each other's throats so much so they can drive my pilot mad,"_ Black bemoaned, causing Ed to snort.

"_**Tell Shiro all he needs to do is shoot at them when they don't listen. That'll teach them,"**_ Ed told her.

"_Something tells me Shiro won't go for that,"_ Black said dryly and Ed shrugged mentally.

"_**I said all he needs to do is shoot **__at__** them, not actually hit them,"**_ Ed told her and was rewarded with her laughter.

"_I'll make sure to tell him that,"_ she chuckled and Ed grinned.

"_**I want to know his exact reaction. Promise you'll tell me?"**_ Ed asked.

"_You know I would've anyway,"_ Black pointed out and Ed realised he couldn't argue against that.

"Brother?" Al's voice broke him out of his discussion and the older Elric realised he'd tuned out their conversation in favour of his conversation with Black.

"Sorry, talking to Black," he told them, a little sheepishly and everyone bar Hawkeye rolled their eyes at him.

"We were just saying that we should go back and join everyone," Alphonse said, not bothering to wipe the amused grin off his face, even after Ed shoved him gently.

"Yeah, alright," Ed said agreeably, getting off his bed before Al could retaliate. "Let's go."

* * *

An hour later found everyone settling themselves around the table. Gracia had cracked open the bottle of wine Mustang had gifted her and poured everyone who wanted and could legally drink the alcohol while Ed, Al and Elysia settled for water and juice. Gracia had decided on sweet and sour chicken for dinner that night – a recipe provided by Hunk via Ed's tablet that had become a firm favourite – and three whole apple pies that filled the home with its delicious aroma and tempted some of them into trying to skip dinner.

"How do you think your friends are doing, Edward?" Gracia asked once everyone had served themselves some dinner.

"I'm sure they're fine. Truth promised they wouldn't suffer any consequences for their disappearances – it was part of our deal so I know it kept its word – so I imagine they spent an ungodly amount of time trying to calm Miss Penelope down and explain what had happened then listen to her complain because she couldn't go with. Knowing them, they're probably back to work already," Ed told her.

"Really? I would've thought they might've taken a day off after everything they did for us," Gracia said, voice obviously worried about the BAU agents and how much they worked.

"I don't know for certain, Miss Gracia. They might've done so," Ed tried to soothe but Gracia didn't look overly convinced.

"I'm sure that no matter what they're doing, the BAU agents are perfectly okay," Mustang said, putting his two cents in.

"Well, I suppose there's really no point in fussing since they're not here," Gracia said with a small smile. Everyone could still tell it bothered her slightly that she didn't know if the agents were looking after themselves properly. Ed seriously wished he had a way to contact the agents so he could tell them about this.

"I think a toast in honour of the BAU agents is in order," Mustang said after a couple of moments, lifting his glass up. Everyone else mimicked him, including Elysia. "No matter what they're doing, I want to thank the BAU for all of their hard work in helping all of you investigate this case and get the outcome we were all hoping for as quickly as you did. I know they aren't here to hear any of this but I wish them well in their futures and if we ever cross paths with them again, I hope they're all in good health and spirits. To the BAU!" Mustang saluted with his glass and everyone clinked their glasses together as best they could, chuckling at Elysia's determination to clink her cup against everyone else's.

"To the BAU!"

A/N - Guys, it's the second last chapter! Also, it's the last chapter based in Amestris. The final chapter next week will be based in America where we will catch up with Garcia and what she's been doing. Many thanks to my wonderful beta who managed to find the time to finish this chapter despite her busy schedule and many many thanks to those of you who have reviewed the story and last chapter! I really appreciated all the wonderful comments and I truly hope you enjoy this chapter :D I'll see you all next week for the final chapter of this story!


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

_Meanwhile, in America…_

Penelope Garcia had _not_ been having a good week. It had all begun with the most recent case that the team had been called out on. It had taken them far longer than they had thought it would to solve and they'd found three new victims before they'd caught up with the killer. The team was exhausted and annoyed. Garcia had been immensely pleased to hear they were on the plane and heading for home.

She'd monitored their return trip and as soon as the front gate reported that they had made it through security, she'd gone to work. Garcia had made sure she had steaming hot cups of the agents' preferred drinks waiting for them when they walked into the briefing room to debrief on the case and she felt a giddy pleasure when she received genuine thanks and smiles from all of them, like the small gesture had just made their whole week. She'd even made sure that JJ and Hotch had everything they would need for the debrief ready and waiting for them.

As always, Hotch led them through the meeting with JJ acting as his second-in-command. They went over the entire case from the moment JJ had received the files and plea from the local police department that had practically begged the FBI to send a BAU team to help them catch the person who had already claimed four lives and had shown no signs of stopping until the moment they had boarded the plane bound for Quantico, Virginia. Since he'd known how mentally exhausted everyone was, Hotch had kept their debrief as short as he could.

Then the second reason her week had been less than wonderful happened just as Hotch dismissed them for the evening with orders to go home and get some rest. Just as they all stood up, Garcia's entire vision had gone white and she scowled as she recalled what had followed.

_For the first few moments all she could do was blink, trying to see if maybe that would help her clear her vision. When that didn't work, she felt her heart beginning to race and her breathing quicken slightly. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she almost jumped a foot in the air before she spun around quickly to figure out who was touching her._

"_Are you alright, baby girl?" Morgan asked and Garcia immediately felt herself calm down as she realised that her entire team was in what she was now coming to believe was a completely white, empty room._

"_I am now that I got you here to protect me," Garcia said, voice not quite as teasing as she had hoped it would be. In fact, she sounded downright terrified and by the looks of it, Morgan was just as scared, but trying to mask his fear with masculine bravado._

"_Always, darlin'," Morgan gave her a smile before pulling her in so she was huddled up to his side and they were facing everyone else. "Is everyone else okay?" Morgan asked and received nods from everyone._

"_Where are we? How did we get here?" Reid asked, craning his neck to look all around. "Are those doors?" he asked, looking over everyone else's shoulder and nodding in the direction he was looking when he noticed the puzzled faces._

"_I don't know," Hotch said as he looked at the doors with a suspicious expression. "I don't think we should touch them though. Something's not right about this whole situation." No one bothered to argue with him and Garcia knew it was because they were getting the same hinky vibes from this whole situation._

"_Very clever, Agent Hotchner." _

_Garcia had never seen the team move so quickly. In the same amount of time it took for Morgan to pull her behind him, everyone else had drawn their weapons and had the guns aimed in the direction the spine-chilling voice had come from. When she managed to peek out from behind Morgan's back, Garcia's eyes widened in shock. Sitting on the ground between them and the doors Reid had was a human-shaped, faceless figure. Like the room around them, it was pure white, only visible thanks to a contrasting, constantly shifting shadow that surrounded it like an aura. The – person? – was sitting cross-legged, arms propped on its knees._

"_What are you?" Reid asked and the being hummed as it placed a finger to its chin, contemplating the answer. Garcia was still struggling to get over the fact that it had no distinguishable features other than a basic human outline and a mouth that it stretched into a grin. Every time the thing grinned, it made Garcia's skin crawl._

"_I'm rather disappointed, Doctor Reid," the being said. "I was led to believe that all of you agents were observant and good at your jobs. I had hoped that you, at least would be able to figure out who I am and where you are."_

_Reid frowned. "So we should recognise you? I don't understand and I think if anyone had mentioned you before we would remember. Who are you?"_

"_I am known by many names," the being said. "I am the world. I am the universe. I am God. I am one. I am all. But I believe you would best know me by the name a mutual acquaintance refers to me by. I am Truth."_

"_You're the being that Edward and Mustang told us about," Reid said. "The one that Edward said was the closest equivalent to an alchemic god there was." Garcia felt the usual mix of sadness and longing to see her favourite blond- and raven-haired alchemists again that she felt whenever their names were mentioned._

"_Ah, yes, our mutual acquaintances," Truth said, its grin turning sharper and somehow more spine-chilling at the same time. "I certainly couldn't have predicted just how much use their connection with all of you would be to me when I sent them to your world all those months ago."_

"_Why are we here?" Hotch asked. "We know from what Edward told us that no one can access your dimension without an alchemic array and none of us have the ability or the knowledge to be able to transmute ourselves here."_

"_You are correct, Agent Hotchner," Truth said, grinning like Hotch had said something extremely amusing. "However, you are also wrong. I am able to summon those of my choosing to my world when I require something of them."_

"_So, what do you need from us?" Rossi asked, watching the being suspiciously and that's when Garcia noticed that none of the agents had lowered their weapons, not that Truth looked overly worried about it._

"_What I require of you does not involve all of your team," Truth said and despite the fact it had no eyes, Garcia could've sworn Truth was staring right at her. "I will only be sending six of you. The place you'll be going is not suitable for your technical analyst and I would hate for her to get bored. She will be sent back to your world so that she can use her skills for more important things," it informed them, sounding almost dismissive of Garcia and she felt herself bristle at its tone._

"_Where are we going that Garcia's skill-set would be unnecessary?" Hotch asked and Truth grinned again like it thought Hotch had said something clever._

"_I'll be sending you to Amestris, of course!" Truth announced like it was some major prize on a game show. The agents and Garcia looked a mix of excited and suspicious._

"_Why?" Prentiss asked and Truth hummed as it contemplated its answer._

"_A series of recent events have set Amestris on a course that will soon require my intervention if I don't want to lose one of the only countries that bothers to acknowledge my existence," Truth explained flippantly. "When it gets to the point where I would need to start correcting things to get the world back on track, it will require immense effort on my behalf and I don't want to expend that energy. Events are not quite at that point, and could still be remedied before they reach a tipping point, so I have decided to enlist the six of you to help our young alchemist right this wrong," Truth told them, seemingly unfazed by the gob-smacked looks on everyone's face._

"_You're sending us to another world so you don't have to do any work?" Morgan asked incredulously and Truth nodded._

"_Yes," it grinned, "but like I said; I have no use for your technical analyst in Amestris so she will not be going with you. I suggest you put your skill-set to good use the moment you get back," Truth told her, somehow managing to look directly at Garcia without having physical eyes and sending chills down her spine once more. She hadn't been able to get a word out to try and argue for the being to let her visit Amestris so she could see Ed when she found herself back in the meeting room, in the exact same spot she had been standing when they were all kidnapped. Only now she was completely alone._

She found herself strangling her favourite pen – the pink, sparkly one with the fluffy end as she pulled herself out of the memory. It had been over a week since her friends had been kidnapped. She'd continued showing up for work as scheduled and tried to hide her increasing concern whenever someone asked where one of the missing agents was. She'd made sure to provide numerous other BAU teams with the best technical help she could give them, made sure her work was as flawless as ever but she could feel her fear for her team grow with each passing hour.

She'd done as Truth had suggested as soon as she'd been able to pull herself together and started creating cover stories for each agent to explain their absence but it didn't help to ease her worry and she was certain someone was going to see through her extremely well-crafted lies. She'd even had to talk to Assistant Director Erin Strauss when she had come looking for Hotch and either hadn't received or hadn't believed the email Garcia had sent in answer to Strauss' original inquiring one. Garcia had honestly believed she was trembling so much that Strauss was sure to notice her deceit but the stern woman had merely given her a curt nod before leaving her alone in her office with only her computers for company.

Despite her best efforts during the first few hours of her return from Truth's world, Garcia's reason number three for why this week was horrible had happened. She'd completely forgotten about the fact that her friends had families who were expecting them home and would be worried when they didn't show up when expected. The call from JJ's husband, Will LaMontagne, had been the startling wake-up call she needed. With Henry only a few months old, naturally Will was growing frantic when the time JJ had said she'd be home had passed without so much as a text from his wife explaining why she wasn't home.

Once she had managed to convince Will not to call for a search party without revealing where JJ and the others really were, she immediately started phoning everyone else she needed to. With Hayley gone, Jack was in Hotch's custody but she knew that Hayley's sister, Jessica, was the person Hotch normally called to babysit for him so she called her and told her that Hotch and the team had been pulled into a high-priority case and would be unreachable for the foreseeable future. When Jessica had questioned how she would get a hold of Hotch if something happened, Garcia had instructed her to call her directly and she would pass the message along. For Morgan and Prentiss, it was simply a case of calling their mothers and telling them what she'd told Jessica. For Rossi, she called his publishing agent and asked her to pass along the message to anyone she thought needed to know. For Reid, Garcia had called the hospital his mother lived in and spoke to her head doctor.

With the families of her team now taken care of, Garcia could now focus on her work and the steadily increasing guilt she felt at lying to everyone. Sometimes, though, she found herself angry and jealous of her team because they were in Amestris with Edward and Mustang while she was stuck at Quantico trying to keep some of the sharpest people in the world from finding out about them disappearing.

She was forever grateful for Abby, the forensic scientist from NCIS they'd met when Edward and Mustang had appeared the second time. As soon as she had the opportunity, she'd arrange a video chat with Abby and told her the whole story. Both women were upset that they wouldn't be able to talk to the alchemists but they found comfort in one another, despite the physical distance, and Garcia found that she was able to bitch to DiNozzo and McGee as well during some of her video chats with Abby.

As the days dragged by, she gained reasons four, five and six for why she hated this week in particular. She'd had some poor young intern run into her, spilling the four cups of coffee she'd been carrying all over Garcia's favourite yellow dress only to have the intern's boss turn around and berate Garcia for being in the way in the same breath the pretentious arse had berated the young intern in. Then her car's battery had chosen to die the next day. Of course, she hadn't discovered that fact until after she had worked nearly three hours longer than she had expected. Without the team there to give her car a jump, she'd had to call AAA for help. And of course, the driver had taken two hours to get to the office because he'd gotten lost then had to get through security.

To wrap up the week, she'd walked into work late the next morning – thanks to the fact she'd overslept because of the overtime and AAA taking so long – and collapsed into her chair only to find that someone else had used her office overnight and had messed with her system. At that point it was all she could do not to go into a tearful rage and start hitting things. Instead, she'd taken a deep breath, and then taken three more when the first one didn't calm her down, fixed her systems and got to work. At this point, the agents had been gone exactly one week and Will was rapidly getting sick of hearing Garcia's assurances that everything was fine and that JJ would be back soon. She'd wanted to tell the man the truth, wanted someone who she could talk to face-to-face about her worry for her team but when she'd mentioned the names of the two alchemists to Will, it was clear from his response that JJ hadn't told him the whole story.

A week had passed since she'd first met Truth and Garcia's team still wasn't home. Garcia couldn't help that her unease increased almost triple to what it had been before. She knew that Ed and Mustang hadn't spent more than a week in America at a time and the fact that her team wasn't back by now had her worried. She then berated herself for thinking that the lengths of Ed and Mustang's previous visits were the norm for interdimensional travel. Just because they'd returned home before a week had passed didn't mean that Hotch, Morgan and the others would but her rationality didn't do anything to ease her worry. She just didn't know what they could possibly be doing in Amestris that could save Edward's home and that uncertainty was only adding to her anxiety.

Day eight of their absence passed in much the same way as the rest of the week had. It was now the start of a new week. Unlike the previous week, this one hadn't given Garcia any reasons so far to hate it as much, aside from the lack of six BAU agents. Will had called Sunday night and asked Garcia over for dinner and to talk, which she had accepted with no small amount of nervousness. Lying over email or the phone wasn't difficult but Garcia could not lie to someone face-to-face, even if it was a lie of omission. Thankfully, Will had realised Garcia must've had a very compelling reason to continue skirting around the real reason his wife wasn't answering her phone when he kept asking so he decided to just wait for JJ to tell him when she got home, which Garcia promised should be soon. She'd apologised profusely, wanting him to know that if there was something that she could tell him, she would, but she just couldn't right now.

Day nine was hectic. Several BAU teams were in the field, even abroad, and a few of the technical analysts scheduled for work that day had called in sick, leaving Garcia's department short-handed so she and the other technical analysts were working overtime to try and get the information to the teams working in the field so they could catch their unsubs. Because of the lack of analysts working with her, Garcia ended up working until nearly midnight. She was grateful that, for the most part, all the agents had been understanding about how long it had taken for the information to get to them but there had been a couple who'd snapped at her, telling her the wait was unacceptable and hanging up before she could offer an explanation.

She'd been in a bad mood for the rest of the day after that. She knew that when a unit was in the field, it needed the information requested as soon as possible because lives were generally on the line. Every minute that passed meant the unsub was a minute closer to choosing their next victim so the quicker the team got the information, the quicker they found the unsub before they could do anything. Garcia had been in such a bad mood that she'd snapped at the next agent who'd asked why it had taken so much longer than usual for her to get the required information and hung up on him before he could say anything.

Of course, she'd felt horrible immediately afterwards but made herself drink a cup of calming tea before calling him back to apologise. He'd been very understanding – intimately familiar with how being short-staffed affected a department – and assured her he hadn't taken it personally and wished her a good day. The agent's easily given forgiveness had made her feel both better and worse and she'd spent the rest of the exhausting day checking her temper and keeping her attitude as pleasant as possible.

She finished when a fellow technical analyst showed up and told her she was all good to go home. Thanking the man – Daniel, she thought his name was – she packed her purse up, set her systems up to alert her phone if anything urgent was sent to her then shut her computers down. Daniel walked with her, making small talk, before they parted ways when they reached his office. Garcia went the long way so she would walk through the bull-pen Morgan, Prentiss and Reid worked in and past the offices that contained Hotch, Rossi and JJ when they were working.

She'd been doing this every night since the team had disappeared – not entirely sure why she did so herself – and finished up her routine by glancing up at the debriefing room they'd been taken from just before she walked through the glass doors. However, unlike previous nights, something made her pause just as she rested a palm on the glass door to push it open and stare at the debriefing room a little longer. A few moments passed and she'd just been about to shake her head and chalk up her odd behaviour to exhaustion when a flash of light had her attention snapping back at the debriefing room.

Though she knew this was how people in the first five minutes of shows like 'Supernatural' ended up being brutally killed, Garcia couldn't stop herself from marching across the room, up the stairs and along the walkway as quickly as she could in her wedged heels. The light that had caught her eye had lasted only a moment so the room was still dark when she walked towards it. Just as she reached the door to push it open and see what demon or other supernatural beast was lurking in the room, the lights flicked on and she found herself staring at her missing team.

* * *

After some extremely ugly crying on her part, Garcia finally released the last agent from her strangling hug. Every single agent had been given the same treatment, including Hotch and Rossi, and none of them complained about it. After all, they'd never been unable to contact Garcia for more than a few hours – a day at the most – for any of their previous cases and they'd certainly never been gone longer than a week and been unreachable the whole time.

"I want to know everything that happened but you all need to call people and tell them you're back. I think Will is just about ready to try and hack my computers to get information," Garcia told JJ once she'd calmed down enough to talk, wiping her eyes with a tissue Morgan had handed her.

"What happened while we were gone?" Hotch asked as JJ switched her phone on so she could do as Garcia suggested. JJ groaned in frustration when the phone made a noise to tell her it was on before it made a noise none of them could identify.

"It's having a heart attack," JJ said in explanation as she waited some-what impatiently for her phone to adjust to being in service once more and to download all texts, missed calls and emails she'd accumulated in the time she'd been out of range of a cell-tower.

"Garcia?" Hotch prodded, trying to get her to answer his question.

"Right," Garcia said, shaking her head as she struggled to contain her emotions long enough to answer his question, feeling overwhelmed again as she realised her friends were back home. "When Truth sent me back, I realised what it was telling me I needed to do. I had to create cover stories for all of you being missing. Obviously, I couldn't fabricate a story that had you out in the field and working on another case because there were too many things I'd have to try and cover," she started explaining. "For example, what if Strauss decided to contact the police department directly to speak with one of you and learned you weren't there? So, I came up with individual stories for you. According to the FBI, all of you took personal or sick leave that I'll schedule to end tomorrow when I clock on for work," she told them.

"However, if you were to ask your families, all of you were working a case that was of the highest priority and required a black-out of communications. The only way they could contact you is if they went through me and even then, I would only be able to request the message be passed on. I would then claim that I never received a reply back," Garcia went on to tell them. "If the FBI ask; Reid, you were spending time with your mother after a recent health scare. Hotch, you, Jack and Jessica fell ill. Prentiss, you went on vacation to Paris." The black-haired agent winced a little and Garcia gave her a sheepish look. "I panicked and it was the first place I thought of when I was laying a paper-trail," Garcia apologised and Emily huffed in laughter.

"What about the rest of us?" Rossi asked and Garcia got back on track.

"Rossi, you were taking the time to get started on your next book," Garcia told him. "JJ, Will agreed to help cover for you. If the FBI asks, you and he were spending time with Henry as a family since everyone else was gone but you owe that man one heck of an explanation because he was about ready to hunt you down all by his lonesome. Morgan, I told them you had a family event in Chicago that you couldn't miss." Garcia took a deep breath as she finished talking and waited for everyone to take it in.

"Thank you, Garcia," Hotch finally said. "I know you were put on the spot and had to work with no time to prepare and you performed your task extremely well." Garcia sighed with relief. She hadn't been certain they'd be happy with the covers she'd chosen.

"Thanks, Penelope," JJ said before lifting her now-working phone and waving it a little. "I'm going to call Will now and let him now I'll be home soon. I won't take too long," JJ assured them. Hotch nodded for her to go ahead and she stepped out of the debriefing room for some privacy.

"We'll wait for JJ to come back before we talk about everything," Hotch said decisively. "Garcia, can you make sure that we aren't overheard or recorded?" Hotch asked. "Maybe so no one knows we were even here tonight?" Garcia nodded and opened her laptop bag, producing her work laptop and booting it up, wanting it done before JJ came back.

* * *

"_JJ?" _Will's voice sounded so unsure that JJ felt her eyes water slightly.

"It's me," JJ confirmed and heard Will's shaky sigh on the other end of the line. "I'm so sorry, Will."

"_Where have you been? You disappeared for over a week without telling anyone but Garcia! I was so worried!" _JJ knew the anger in Will's voice was there because of his worry and not because he was truly angry.

"Please don't freak out, darling, when I tell you what happened. Promise me you will listen without interrupting," JJ asked, checking the hallway she was in for any eavesdroppers.

"_If I wasn't freaking out before, JJ, I am now. What happened?" _Will asked in a demanding tone and JJ managed to bite back the reprimand she would've given in response to that tone.

"I can't tell you everything over the phone, love. A lot of what I'd need to tell you needs to be said face-to-face so you know I'm not joking because it's pretty fantastical, even to me and I know it's true because I lived it," JJ told him and heard a huff of almost-amusement.

"_Baby, you're rambling,"_ Will interrupted her and JJ couldn't quite hide her smile.

"I know, I'm sorry," JJ said before taking a deep breath. "Okay, so I guess I'm just gonna rip the band-aid off. The team and I were kidnapped almost immediately after our debrief from the last case we worked." She heard the strangled, panicked noise Will made and ploughed over anything he could've said. "We're fine! I'm fine! None of us were hurt and technically once our kidnapper gave us their reason for taking us, we agreed to help out."

"_You agreed to help your kidnapper?"_ Will asked, sounding a little faint. JJ didn't blame him.

"You remember the young military officer and his commanding officer the team met during our last mission to New York? We met them again three months later in D.C. when we were asked to assist NCIS with the attack on their headquarters?" JJ asked and felt Will's impatience for her to get to where he shouldn't be freaking out.

"_Garcia mentioned their names during one of our phone calls. I think it was Edward and Roy? I felt like she was trying to find out what I knew about them,"_ Will told her and JJ felt the familiar pang of guilt at not telling her husband all of the details surrounding the team's meetings with Edward and Mustang.

It had caused a tense few days between the two of them after each visit because Will hadn't made it so far up the command chain in New Orleans for no reason. He'd known JJ hadn't told him everything and it had naturally made him a little upset that his wife apparently didn't trust him enough to tell him the whole story. He'd finally accepted that it wasn't because JJ didn't want to tell him. She'd finally just told him that she'd given her word to someone that she wouldn't.

"That's probably because she was trying to see if I'd told you the whole story and not just the story we'd agreed to tell," JJ said. "I promise that when I come home – which will be in a couple of hours, I swear – that I'll tell you everything I haven't, but for now, I'll just tell you that we were sent to their country to help Edward clear his commanding officer's name of several murder charges," JJ told him.

"_So, why couldn't you call me while you were travelling to wherever you headed? Why make me worry for nearly ten days, going through every horrifying scenario about what could've been happening to you? All I had were Garcia's assurances that you were alright but once she'd admitted that she hadn't actually heard from you at all since you disappeared, I couldn't help but panic all over again." _JJ felt her heart ache for Will. She knew that if their situations had been reversed, she would've been just as – if not more – frantic than he had been.

"I can't answer that over the phone, Will. That's something I need to tell you when I get home," JJ told him, feeling her guilt grow at not being able to tell him the whole truth right away. She could feel his frustration and annoyance at not getting all of the answers he deserved right away and she didn't blame him.

"_Alright. I waited this long already. I can wait a couple more hours,"_ Will said, not sounding happy about it but was resigned to the fact that he'd have to wait. _"You will be home tonight?"_

"Yes. Nothing's gonna keep me from coming home to you and Henry tonight," JJ swore vehemently.

"_Good. We both missed you,"_ Will told her, voice softening a little and JJ felt her heart warm.

"I missed both of you so much too," JJ said, voice growing thick as she held back her tears, "and I am so, _so_ sorry that I couldn't contact you to tell I was leaving."

"_I know you are, JJ. I'll see you when you get home,"_ Will said, sounding like he wanted nothing more than for her to be there and she would freely admit that she wished she was there too.

"I'll be home as soon as I can. I think Hotch just wants to bring Garcia up to speed first. We do owe her for making sure we still had jobs to come back too and that there wasn't a kidnapping file opened on us," JJ half-joked and Will gave another huff of almost amusement.

"_Yeah, you do. She was the only reason I didn't come to your headquarters and demand answers,"_ Will told her and JJ almost laughed at the image of Will trying to demand answers from Strauss or another higher-up.

"I'll be home in a couple of hours, maybe even earlier if I can manage it," JJ promised him once more. They exchanged reluctant goodbyes before JJ let Will hang up on her. Taking some fortifying breaths, JJ dashed away any tears that had managed to track their way down her cheeks before she placed her phone in her pocket – planning on ignoring any other messages on her phone for the moment – and headed back for the debriefing room.

* * *

"Everything alright?" Morgan asked once JJ walked back through the door and she half-shrugged.

"As good as can be expected, I suppose. We have been missing for nine days without any way to contact our families in that time and without being given the opportunity to warn our families we'd be unreachable for several days. Despite Garcia's best efforts to keep him calm, Will was still extremely worried about me even though she had promised him I was alright," JJ told him. "He wants me home as soon as possible. I promised to tell him everything, including what I concealed the last two times we met Ed." She had a look that told them she'd fight anyone who challenged her on her decision.

It had been a point of contention several times between everyone who'd met Edward in New York. Because of their promise to not reveal his world, the team had spent the flight back home on the jet from New York arguing about what they could tell their families and what they needed to hide. Unlike their official reports written on the case, the team had a bit more leeway in what their families could know, since the case wasn't classified. JJ hadn't been alone in wanting to tell her loved ones everything with the only exceptions being about Ed and Mustang's alchemy, home country and how they arrived and left America, but the majority of the team had thought it would be best to stick with what they'd put in the reports so there was no chance of slipping up in the future.

"I think it probably isn't a bad idea for us to individually decide what to tell family this time," Rossi said. He had been on the side of the majority, not having many people who he would tell about Edward or Mustang so he hadn't had the possible guilt of lying to a loved one constantly to worry about. "After all, how many of our family members will believe that we were in a dead zone for nine days without having _any_ way to contact them? It's not like we can claim we were in the Middle-East or somewhere similar because we have satellite phones and we risk a family member accidentally bringing it up to someone in the military because they don't know not too," he pointed out and Hotch sighed.

"We would have to be immensely careful who we tell and how much we tell them. I know you all want to say you trust every member of your family not to tell their friends even after you make it extremely clear that no one outside of the family is to know," Hotch said when he thought someone was going to argue, "but I would prefer it if you took the time to sit down and really think if that family member would keep Amestris a secret under all possible circumstances. Whether they'd keep it to themselves if they were drunk, high, whatever the case may be. If you doubt – even for a moment – that they would, I would ask that you not tell them," Hotch said, close to pleading with them.

Hotch could see the look of relief on Reid's face, though the young doctor had tried to conceal it quickly, and he knew why it was there. It was well-known amongst the team that Reid told his mother about everything that he did, everything he heard, everyone he'd met. There were no secrets between the two of them up until their first meeting with Edward and Mustang. Hotch had taken Reid aside privately after the jet had arrived back and they'd finished with their debriefing to make sure he understood they couldn't take the risk of an orderly or doctor coming across the letters he'd written if he did tell Diana about everything. Reid had promised to keep it from his mother but Hotch had seen how much it tore at him every time he watched the young man pen his mother a letter.

"Thanks, Hotch," JJ said, most of the tension in her body disappearing now that she knew he wouldn't try and order her to keep it quiet, especially since she'd promised to tell Will everything.

Hotch simply nodded in response to her thanks before turning back to the group. "Now that JJ is back, we should bring Garcia up to speed. I imagine everyone would like to go home to their own beds, not just JJ." Everyone nodded and moved to sit around the table and that's when Garcia noticed their bags for the first time.

"What do you guys have? Your go-bags were left here," Garcia said before she seemed to remember something. "That reminds me: your go-bags are back in your offices or wherever you normally stash them," she told them and Hotch inclined his head at her.

"Thank you, Garcia. To answer your question, when we were in Amestris, Edward took us to some clothing stores so we could buy outfits that would blend into his world more. We also got the chance to act as tourists for a few hours and purchase gifts and souvenirs. That's what we have in our bags," Hotch told her. "Remind us once we've told you everything that we have gifts for you." She nodded in agreement, looking excited at the prospect of gifts.

"To start with, once you left Truth's plane of existence, it went on to tell us how we would be sent to Amestris to help 'right a wrong' and that if we succeeded in our mission, it would bring us home without charging us the toll," Rossi told her, scowling lightly as he spoke. Garcia wanted to ask but figured she would find out later in the story. "We were forced through those gates we noticed and before we could blink, we found ourselves in the countryside."

_Rossi sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes as they adjusted to the bright sunlight all around them. He looked around, remembering where they had just been and what the one who had called itself Truth had told him. He was sitting in a grassy field near a hard-packed dirt road, the rest of the team lying nearby. The sky overhead was a cloudless, bright blue – brighter than he'd seen in any of the cities they had visited lately, while the landscape around them was comprised of rolling hills of green in all directions._

_One by one, the rest of the team slowly sat up, taking in their surroundings. JJ shaded her eyes and looked around, a look of awe on her face. "Is this Amestris? I wasn't expecting it to be so peaceful, or so beautiful."_

"_I know. When they told us that their country was militaristic and involved in a lot of recent conflicts – I didn't think it would be like this," Prentiss agreed._

"_This looks like farmland and grazing land," Hotch observed. "Reid, do you remember exactly what Edward's instructions were when we saw them at NCIS?"_

_Reid nodded. "He told us to find the closest military officer and to let him know that we needed to see the Fullmetal Alchemist as soon as possible. He also said that if necessary, we could mention General Mustang's name as well, and to ask that we get to Central City."_

"_Alright. Then let's get started. We apparently won't be able to get home until we figure out why Truth sent us here, and if we're going to do that, we need to find Edward and Mustang," Hotch said._

"We saw a small town in the distance so we headed for it," JJ picked up the story, "and finally ran into someone wearing a uniform. It wasn't exactly the same – it was a darker blue colour and there wasn't the same type of rank insignias on it that Mustang had – with the stars and the gold braid, but it was close enough that we thought he might be able to help us."

_The village that they had seen from where they had woken up on the road lay to the west – assuming, of course, that the sun behaved in Amestris the same way that it did in America. It had taken them about twenty minutes of following the road before they began to see signs of farmhouses and smaller cottages that Reid theorized belonged to those who worked on the farms but didn't own them._

_The farmhouses soon gave way to smaller clusters of buildings, houses with large yards, expansive vegetable and flower gardens, or chicken coops, rabbit hutches, or beehives. It was clear that they were entering the bounds of the village itself, and not just the outlying farms. Another ten minutes brought them to what appeared to be a central street. A train whistled in the distance, and they could see people ahead, moving from building to building carrying parcels and baskets._

_A few people looked at them curiously, but there was no sign of fear or concern on their faces. As far as the agents could tell, this was just a simple, rural village. Strangers probably were not common here, but these people lived in peace, so the sight of strangers didn't cause undue alarm unless said strangers gave them reason to be afraid._

_Reid tapped Hotch on the shoulder and indicated a cross street ahead. A man wearing a dark blue uniform, similar to the one worn by General Mustang, but in a darker colour and without the gold trim and array of medals was speaking to a brown-haired woman with a white apron and a basket full of fresh vegetables. "Hotch, his uniform isn't exactly the same, but maybe he can help us. Maybe lower ranked or local officers wear a different colour from those assigned to the capital city?"_

"_It could be," Hotch agreed. "We've never seen Edward wear a uniform, so we don't know what colour uniform lower ranked officers wear. Let's ask him if he can help us contact Edward and Mustang."_

_They approached the officer, who bade the woman good-bye and turned to face them. "May I help you?"_

"_Yes, please," Hotch said. "We're new to this area, but we're trying to get in contact with Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, or Brigadier General Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist. Could you help us contact them? We're friends of theirs and we've come for a visit."_

_The officer looked at them suspiciously for a moment. "You're new to this area, yet you know of two of the premier State Alchemists in this country?"_

"When we asked for him to contact Ed or Mustang, he asked for our travel papers to prove we were in Amestris legally. Obviously, we must have an accent over there," JJ added and Garcia nodded.

"That makes sense. Ed and Mustang had accents here so of course you guys wouldn't have blended in," she said logically and was rewarded with a nudge from Morgan.

"Look at you go, baby girl," Morgan teased lightly. "You're right though. Once the officer – who we learned was actually military police, rather than a soldier – realised we weren't in the country by legal means, he arrested us and confiscated our weapons. Because we had mentioned Edward and Mustang by name, however, he did agree to attempt to contact them. We sat in the cells for most of the day; eventually we found out that Truth had dropped us off in Resembool."

"Isn't that Edward's hometown?" Gracia asked, and the rest of the team nodded.

"He eventually told us that he'd been able to get in touch with someone from Mustang's office, and that Ed would be coming to Resembool in answer to our request, but that he wouldn't be there until after nightfall, since he had to take the train from Central. I wish you'd been there to see the look on Ed's face when he saw us. It was priceless," Morgan told her, chuckling lightly at the memory.

"So, Ed got you out of the cells?" Garcia asked, resolutely ignoring the pang of jealousy she got whenever she thought of her team spending time with Edward and Mustang without her, even though she knew they didn't really have a choice in this case.

"Yeah, he did. It was pretty late when he managed it though but I think the train he'd arrived in on had been delayed and he had to escort a couple of family friends to his grandmother's home before he could come and deal with us," Prentiss answered. "We didn't get to talk much that night. He basically had the soldier book us some rooms in the local hotel while he gave us the short version of what was happening before we got our weapons back and left to get some sleep before catching the morning train to Central."

"So what was the reason for Truth kidnapping all of you?" Garcia asked, unable to hold back her curiosity on the matter anymore.

"Roughly two months after their last visit," Hotch said, "a Captain with the military was found dead in an alleyway, burned to death. At first it was ruled an accident but then a second body showed up, this time a State Alchemist who held the rank of Major, like Edward did. By the time the third body, a Colonel, was found, the lead investigator had realised they had a serial killer. The fourth and fifth victims, a Brigadier General and a Major General respectively, showed up just before Truth abducted us and all the evidence pointed to only one suspect: General Mustang."

"But he wouldn't have done something like that," Garcia immediately protested, causing Morgan to lay a soothing hand on her forearm so she wouldn't try and figure out interdimensional travel to make sure no one thought that.

"We know," Morgan told her.

"Why did they believe that Mustang was involved in the deaths?" Gracia asked. "He's a high ranking officer!"

"Mustang was the only person that the Investigations team could find who had a connection with every single victim," JJ said. "In the case of Captain Bryce, Major Pardi, Colonel Summers, and Brigadier General Henley, the connection was antagonistic. All of the victims had reasons to dislike or hate Mustang. On top of that, the fact that all of them were burned to death pointed to Mustang, since he is the Flame Alchemist. It was believed that he was using his alchemy to dispose of his rivals and detractors."

"As Hotch was saying, they had five victims and one suspect. Mustang was informally questioned by the lead investigator about each victim, and formally detained for questioning by authorisation of the Führer when the fifth victim, Mustang's immediate commanding officer, the head of the State Alchemist program, was found. Mustang was released when the generals questioning him couldn't get a confession out of him. However, a few hours after the interview, a Lieutenant General whom Mustang wasn't friendly with was attacked seriously enough she had to be placed in a medically-induced coma, but she lived," Morgan continued.

"Well, I'm glad she survived but what happened?" Garcia asked impatiently.

"The night before we arrived in Resembool, Mustang was arrested on the suspicion he'd committed the murders and attempted murder. He was taken into custody late that night and his team was made aware of his arrest by Captain Hawkeye, Mustang's second-in-command," Reid said, speaking for the first time in a while. "We later found out that there were two Generals in particular who were out for Mustang to be tried and convicted, and they raided his office early the next morning looking for evidence. Fortunately, they didn't find anything, but then they returned after lunch and came face-to-face with Ed for the first time."

"What'd Ed do?" Garcia asked, her glee evident in her voice and Morgan hid his grin of amusement behind a fist.

"Verbally slaughtered them, from what we heard from his team," Prentiss said, voice tinged with laughter. "I don't know if you remember or not, but the last time we saw them, Mustang mentioned that the Führer had offered Edward a promotion at the same time Mustang had been promoted to Brigadier General." Gracia thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Well, Edward had refused the promotion at the time, but Mustang had kept the paperwork in case Edward changed his mind later."

"What good would that have done?" Garcia asked.

"After things started to look bad for Mustang, right around the time the fourth victim had been found, he and Captain Hawkeye began making plans about what to do if he was arrested for the crimes. He had instructed Captain Hawkeye to have Ed sign the paperwork that promoted him to Lieutenant Colonel. He also signed paperwork that would give him temporary control of Mustang's team so they wouldn't be separated by military policies. When the Generals learned about that they weren't impressed. They were even less impressed to learn that Edward, of all the soldiers in the military, has a special clause in his contract that means he only has to obey the orders of two people above him in the military hierarchy: his commanding officer – Mustang – and the Führer. That meant the Generals couldn't use their rank to make Edward obey them and they were furious from what we heard."

Garcia grinned as she imagined that scene. "I would've paid good money to have someone video that. But what happened once you arrived?"

"After speaking with Fuhrer Grumman, we were granted a week to find the evidence we needed before he would grant the Generals' request to expedite Mustang's trial," Hotch told her. "The Führer didn't really believe that Mustang was the one committing the crimes, but the evidence was strong enough that he didn't have any choice but to authorise Mustang's arrest, even if the evidence was only circumstantial. We spent the first night reviewing the case files and getting the whole story from Edward and the rest of Mustang's team. After that, we split up and started doing interviews with different people, including Führer Grumman, Captain Hawkeye, Mustang, the coworkers of the victims, and the two generals who'd been very vocal about Mustang being guilty. Generals Combes and Widdon tried to present the idea that they were loyal citizens looking to get a dangerous criminal off the streets, but it felt like too much of a front for that to be the whole story."

"So they were the ones behind it, and were just trying to blame Mustang?" Gracia asked angrily, but all of the agents shook their heads.

"No, they were just playing politics. They were afraid of the idea of Mustang gaining more political power, and they viewed him as a threat to their power, so they simply seized the opportunity these murders presented to try to discredit him at the very least, and eliminate him, legally, at the most." Prentiss explained. "I'm also fairly certain that they're involved in something immoral or illegal, but that wasn't our mandate to investigate, and I'm sure Mustang and Edward will pursue it later, once things have had a chance to calm down."

"Edward, Rossi and Lieutenant Ross, the lieutenant who Ed had asked to be our liaison, then left to interview the Lieutenant General who had been attacked and was in hospital. Rossi did a cognitive interview with her, and found out some important details that the original investigator hadn't been able to get out of her because he didn't know the right types of questions to ask."

Reid piped up. "The original investigating officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Brookes, joined Hotch, Morgan, and I in investigating the three most recent crime scenes, and Edward and his brother Alphonse also came along to look for any evidence that the crimes actually were committed with alchemy. Brookes didn't think Mustang was guilty either but he had to arrest him because all the evidence said it was him and he was being pressured by the two generals." Garcia looked thunderous at the mention of Brookes. She looked less murderous upon learning Brookes had been on their side but only just. "In the meantime, Rossi, Captain Hawkeye and Lieutenant Ross went and interviewed Mustang's aunt."

"His aunt also happens to be a Madame for a brothel in Central," Rossi told her and Garcia looked as stunned as he had been to find out. "The women who work for her are the ones who form Mustang's information network within the city so he can get information on higher-ups in the military without being caught spying. He never uses the information for blackmail or threatening other officers, but he does use it to help judge how the politics are playing out, or to listen for anything he can use to earn favours that he can call in later."

"So that's a thing we now know," Garcia said before shaking her head, as if to clear it. "What happened next?"

"Edward and Captain Hawkeye met with Generals Combes and Widdon at lunch time the next day so they could execute a search warrant on Mustang's home while the rest of us split up and investigated different avenues like the crime lab and friends, coworkers and family members of the victims. I stayed in the office and went through dozens of newspapers to see what the media knew," JJ went on to explain.

"The day after that, Edward and Captain Hawkeye were asked to attend a meeting consisting of the generals in Central and Führer Grumman as Combes and Widdon had decided that we wouldn't find anything with the three days we had remaining and they wanted Grumman to put Mustang on trial immediately," Prentiss said, taking up the story this time. "Hotch went with them so he could give a report on our findings. While they did that, we followed other leads however we weren't really getting anything more than things that might cause reasonable doubt, assuming that the jury wasn't prejudiced against Mustang before the trial even began."

"At least, that's what we were getting until that afternoon after Edward successfully managed to keep the remaining time promised to us," Morgan picked up the story. "Because we suspected this killer hadn't finished executing their plan, Ed and Captain Hawkeye had ordered us to go everywhere in pairs or groups. Alphonse escorted Captain Hawkeye home that afternoon to walk her dog and they were attacked by the killer on their way back to the base." Garcia gasped in horror and Morgan squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Alphonse fought their attacker when Hawkeye was disarmed but he was eventually knocked out and Hawkeye was kidnapped," Reid told her, wincing internally a little out how clinical he sounded. "Ed, JJ, Lieutenant Ross and I headed straight for the hospital when we got notified. Ed had already ordered some of his team to check out the Captain's apartment when her friend, whom Hawkeye was staying with while we investigated, had grown worried and came to speak with Ed and the team when Hawkeye hadn't shown up to their meeting. Ed had wanted to see if her dog was back in the apartment."

"Wait, why would Ed care if the dog was back in the apartment?" Garcia asked, looking a little confused.

"Because if Hawkeye's dog was in the apartment than something must've happened to her and Alphonse either on the way to the apartment or on the way back and we would focus our search in those areas. If, however, the dog was missing as well than something happened during the walk," JJ explained and Garcia nodded in understanding.

"We waited at the hospital for Al to regain consciousness and once he did, he gave us almost everything we needed to identify the person behind framing Mustang," Reid took over the story again. "We found out from Al that they were attacked by a woman and he provided a description of the woman to a State Alchemist who then drew us a sketch. We showed the sketch to a few people but we didn't find out her identity until we put together names we collected from several different sources and uncovered the one name present in all of them: Major Leah Belmont."

"We then had her military file pulled and compared the sketch to her identification photo and they matched," Hotch revealed. "We spent the rest of the day interviewing her commanding officer and Ed went to her known address to use his tracking array to see if he could find Hawkeye there. When he didn't, we asked her commanding officer whether he knew where she could be and he said her parents had owned a house on the outskirts of the city."

"So, we headed back to the base so we could pull Belmont's father's military file and get his address," Rossi told Garcia. "Ed had a driver take Hotch, Prentiss and a member of his team to the address and confirmed there were two life signs inside, one that he recognised as Hawkeye. Once they had confirmation of where they were, we regrouped and came up with a plan to get Hawkeye out of the house and to arrest Belmont as peacefully as possible."

"Brookes joined us so he could arrest Belmont, since it was his case originally and Ed didn't want to give Combes and Widdon the chance to argue about the legitimacy of the arrest. We surrounded and guarded the perimeter of the house while Edward, Brookes and Mustang's team entered. We waited until Belmont was busy upstairs so they could get Hawkeye out without having to fight," Morgan said and Garcia heaved a sigh.

"Yeah, but knowing Ed, he got into a fight anyway, didn't he?" Garcia asked, sounding completely resigned to the fact the answer was going to be a 'yes'. Her complete belief that Ed had gotten into a fight had a couple of them laughing.

"Yes, he did," Hotch told her and Garcia immediately went to demand a complete report on how hurt he was and if he was okay when Hotch held his hand up to stop her tirade. "He ended up with a lot of cuts and bruises, a few knife wounds to his arm, abdomen, leg and neck – all minor and the neck wound didn't require stitches – as well as getting shot through the arm, though it was a flesh wound and only needed stitches and him to keep his arm in a sling so he didn't accidentally rip his stitches. He's as okay as can be expected. He was only kept in hospital for a little over half a day before they released him," Hotch told her, trying to reassure her but she didn't look like his calm tone was helping any.

"He got shot?!" she almost shrieked. "In what dimension is getting shot and stabbed 'fine'?!"

"Baby girl, it was a flesh wound. You heard Hotch; he didn't even stay in hospital for the whole day. He was complaining about the fact that he couldn't spar against his brother because he promised his doctor he wouldn't rip his stitches this time when we left," Morgan soothed. Garcia still didn't look overly happy about the fact that Ed was hurt but she did calm down enough that Morgan was fairly certain she wouldn't find a way to Truth's domain and get to Ed herself to make sure he was alright.

"You sure he'll be alright?" Garcia asked and everyone nodded. She didn't seem overly satisfied but she accepted their assertions and decided to move the conversation along. "Was Captain Hawkeye alright? What about Alphonse?" Garcia asked, unable to help her mother-henning tendencies even though she'd never actually met the two of them.

"Alphonse and Hawkeye walked away with a head wound and broken arm, respectively, as their most serious injuries," Rossi told her.

"Okay. What happened after the arrest? Was Mustang released?" Garcia questioned, a little worried he hadn't been but then silently reprimanding herself for her worries. After all, if he hadn't been released, why was her team home?

"Belmont was placed in the hospital as well since she'd been injured in the fight as well. Edward injured her during their combat, and Captain Hawkeye shot her in the leg to give Edward a chance to take her down. Once Ed was released from the hospital, he asked Führer Grumman to give the order for Mustang to be released, but they had to wait for Brookes' team to find actual evidence tying her to the crimes so they could make sure no one could argue that she was being framed in an attempt to save Mustang," Prentiss said. "We ended up having to wait a day for his release papers to go through after the evidence was found. In that time, both Alphonse and Hawkeye were released from hospital, as was the sixth and only surviving victim, Lieutenant General Armstrong. Hawkeye asked us and the rest of Mustang's team to clean his house after the mess the generals had made during the execution of their search warrant. Mustang took us, his entire team and both Sheska and Brookes out for dinner the night of his release to thank us for our hard work."

"Of course, he didn't actually know he was going to. Edward just told him he was and that everyone was looking forward to it so he couldn't back out," Morgan laughed and so did Garcia.

"That sounds like Ed," she chuckled. "So how did you get home? Did Truth just kidnap you again?" she asked before startling a little when the response was a few guilty faces. "What happened?"

"We left Central the next day to go to Resembool so Ed, Mustang, Alphonse and Hawkeye could escort the family friends of the two boys back home and so Edward could get his automail checked over," Reid told her. "He ended up getting brand new limbs installed. I know I once thought that their automail could be one of the few areas where their world trumps ours but after watching him get his new limbs, I changed my mind. It looked so painful and he told me that getting the joints actually attached hurt far worse," Reid revealed to them all. It was the first the other agents had heard about that and none of them looked anything less than sad for their blond, otherworld friend.

"Only an hour or so after we retired for the night, Ed, Mustang and Al woke us back up. Truth had paid Ed a visit and told him what needed to happen for us to go home," JJ said, sounding sad, which wasn't helping Garcia's anxiety levels. "It revealed that an alchemist would have to use the array Ed and Mustang had used to leave New York and that that alchemist would have to pay the toll for our passage home."

"But you said Truth told you there wasn't a toll!" Gracia protested immediately.

"No, it told us _we_ wouldn't have to pay the toll. It didn't say a toll wouldn't be paid at all," Morgan scowled. "The alchemist who sent us back would be required to pay our way home."

"Please tell me Ed and Mustang are alright," Garcia begged, close to tears again but this time they wouldn't be happy or relieved ones.

"They're alright. Both of them activated the array so both had to pay a toll. In the end, they came to an agreement that each of them would owe Truth one favour and that Mustang would have to give up some kind of alchemic knowledge Truth gave him the last time they'd met," JJ told her and Garcia heaved a shaky exhale of relief as she swiped at a few stray tears.

"Thank god," she sighed. "Maybe Truth will ask them to visit us as one of their favours," she said hopefully, getting indulgent nods from everyone. She took a moment to clear her throat, swallowing back any remaining tears before staring them down. "I know you lot have deprived me of a ton of details and make no mistake, I _will_ make you tell each and every one of them sometime in the future but JJ promised Will she'd be home soon and Hotch needs to get home to Jack before Jessica hunts him down and I'm sure Morgan has dozens of women to get back to after his absence," she joked, laughing when Morgan nodded seriously.

"You would be absolutely correct," Morgan said, not managing to completely hide his amused tone or smirk.

"If it's alright with Will," Hotch started saying, getting JJ's attention in particular, "I would like to suggest that we meet up at JJ's for lunch or dinner tomorrow to discuss everything in length since Will's going to be told everything tonight. That way, we can catch you up completely, Garcia, and we can sort through our gear. I'm sure the FBI will survive our absence for one more day," Hotch said dryly, causing Garcia to laugh.

"I'd like to see you say that again once you see the state of your desk, Hotch," she joked. "Yours as well, JJ and Rossi." All three of them suddenly looked like they were contemplating a very long holiday to the Bahamas or somewhere just as far away.

"I'll see what Will has to say and send you all a text," JJ promised, getting nods in return.

"I need to call my mum's doctors and let them know I'm back," Reid said, glancing up at the nearest clock before frowning. "I might have to leave them a message, though." Morgan nudged him in the shoulder gently.

"Don't worry, pretty boy. I'm sure she's alright. You can speak to her tomorrow," Morgan said comfortingly and Reid nodded, though he didn't look overly happy at having to wait. No one was obtuse enough to tease him about it, knowing how close he was with his mother.

"Garcia, you'll make sure the FBI doesn't have any record of us being here tonight?" Hotch asked and she nodded, pointing to her laptop.

"Yup. If anyone looks at the security footage of this room or of any camera that so much as glimpses this room, they'll find nothing but boring film to watch. I'll make sure all cameras that catch you guys when we leave show the same thing; nothing," she told him and he nodded.

"Thank you," he said and she gave him a happy smile as she stood to make her way over to her laptop.

Though they still had a lot more to discuss with Garcia and had decisions to make on whether or not they would be telling their family the truth, and if so, how much of the truth, the agents couldn't help but feeling glad to be home. They knew they'd miss Edward and Mustang even more than they had before and now they had even more people who they could call friends but would likely never see again. Of course, they'd also miss all of those people terribly but they were so happy to be back in their home, surrounded by all the familiar sights, sounds and smells.

"I'm really glad you guys are home. It wasn't the same with you guys completely gone," Garcia said as she stood next to her laptop, giving them a big, watery smile that had JJ and Prentiss grabbing her in a hug before they were nearly pulled off her feet by Morgan, who enveloped her in a massive bear-hug.

"We're glad to be back, baby girl."

A/N - So here it is. The final ever chapter of 'Welcome to Amestris, Agents'. It has been amazing writing this story for everyone and I cannot believe how quickly 32 weeks have gone by. As I always do, there are some thank yous I need to make. First and foremost, my freaking unbelievable beta, PhoenixQueen. I want to thank you so much for all of your hard work with not only betaing this series but your willingness to give me help and advice for my Voltron/FMA crossover, Spirit Animals and this story while I was working on it. I have been so lucky to have you as my beta and the way you have enhanced my stories so far are amazing. I can't wait to see what your magic will do for AMA2 and Spirit Animals.

Lastly, but certainly not least, I want to thank every person who has read, favourited, followed and reviewed this story. Even if you have only left one review on one chapter, I want to thank you. To those of you who have done so, you have made writing this story that much easier. I'm sure everyone is sick of me saying it but leaving reviews on any author's story is the best thing you could do. Getting the email from the site telling us that someone has enjoyed our story enough to leave a comment on it is the best thing in the world, or at least it is to me so thank you from the bottom of my heart.

It has been so much fun working on this story! I'm a little sad it's ended and I won't be updating it next Sunday. As I'm sure some of you remember me saying so, I'll be focusing on Spirit Animals until it is finished but after that I have another Voltron/FMA crossover planned then at least one more AMA story which will be a crossover between FMA and CSI: Miami where I have plans for the BAU and NCIS to be in it. They will not be there for most of it as I plan for the FMA and CSI: Miami characters to be the main players but they will be there. Again, neither of these stories will be written until after Spirit Animals is done so if you aren't interested in reading that story, it might be a while before you read a new one of mine again.

I truly hope that everyone enjoyed this story and one more time I'd like to ask that you all leave a review. I'd love to know what you all thought to the final chapter of this story and what you all think to the story now that is officially at a close. If you're reading Spirit Animals, the revised chapter 25 will be up soon and beginning next Sunday, I will be posting completely new chapters once a week. If you aren't than I hope to see you when I start writing and posting a new story. Thank you all again and I'll see you soon!


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